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DRINK,   TEMPERANCE 

AND 

LEGISLATION 


DRINK,    TEMPERANCE 

AND 

LEGISLATION 


BY 

ARTHUR   SHADWELL,    M.A.,    M.D.Oxon. 


THIRD  IMPRESSION 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  &  30TH  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

LONDON,  BOMBAY,  CALCUTTA  AND  MADRAS 

1915 

All  rights  reserved 


3H\Am        ma 


/n!T/ 


COFTBIOHT,  1916,  BT 

LONGMANS,  OREEN,  AND  CO. 


«»n=) 


^     » 


DEDICATION 

This  hook  is  Dedicated,  with  sincere  respect,  to  the 
oldest  and  best  friends  of  true  temperance,  the  Clergy 
who  hy  precept  and  example  uphold  the  moral  law, 
whereby  alone  we  may  become  masters  of  ourselves 
and  be  temperate  in  all  things. 


r^  ,r^ /^  v«^ /^  >4 


PREFACE 


This  book  deals  mainly  with  the  drink  question  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  but  numerous  illustrative 
facts  are  drawn  from  other  countries.  It  is  written 
from  the  standpoint  of  an  observer  and  student  who 
has  no  interest  in  the  liquor  traffic,  no  connection 
with  any  temperance  organisation,  no  foregone  con- 
clusion to  prove  and  no  favourite  panacea  to  advo- 
cate. It  rather  endeavours  to  remove  the  subject  from 
these  associations,  which  are  apt  to  distort  the  vision, 
and  to  see  things  more  as  they  are  than  as  interest 
or  fancy  would  have  them  be. 

The  chapters  to  which  I  would  draw  particular 
attention  are  those  on  *  Drink  in  the  Past,'  '  The 
Decline  of  Drunkenness,'  *  The  Forces  of  Temper- 
ance,' *  The  Forces  of  Intemperance,'  and  *  The 
Principles  of  Liquor  Legislation.'  They  embody  a 
connected  argument  bearing  on  the  last  point.  A 
portion  of  the  matter  contained  in  the  first  three 
chapters  mentioned  has  been  published  before  in 
the  form  of  separate  essays.     They  attracted  some 


vm      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

attention  at  the  time,  and  communications  reached 
me  from  various  quarters.  I  promised  republica- 
tion in  a  complete  form,  and  the  present  time,  when 
liquor  legislation  is  in  the  wind,  seems  opportune. 
The  rest  of  the  book  consists  of  subsidiary  essays. 

I  am  encouraged  to  hope  that  it  may  meet  with 
acceptance  from  persons  interested  in  the  subject 
by  the  more  than  kind  reception  given  to  a  paper, 
containing  an  outline  of  the  main  argument,  which 
I  read  at  the  St.  Albans  Diocesan  Conference  in  1900. 
To  my  great  astonishment  it  met  with  unanimous 
approval.  On  the  other  hand  I  am  well  aware  that 
some  will  dissent  very  heartily  from  much  that  they 
will  find  in  this  book.  The  subject  is,  unfortunately, 
controversial  in  the  highest  degree,  and  it  is  impos- 
sible to  avoid  contentious  matter.  I  beg  those  who 
differ  from  me  to  believe  that  I  respect  their  mo- 
tives and  am  animated  by  no  hostility.  I  beg  them 
also  to  note  all  that  is  said  on  particular  points 
in  different  passages,  for  observations  made  in  one 
connection  are  frequently  qualified  by  further  re- 
marks made  in  another. 

All  statistics  and  official  quotations  are  taken  direct 
from  the  official  sources,  and  second-hand  informa- 
tion is  avoided  as  far  as  possible. 

The  reader  wiU  find  a  good  deal  of  repetition,  for 
which  I  ought,  perhaps,  to  apologise ;  but  it  is  a  choice 
of  evils.    When  the  same  facts  are  approached  from 


PREFACE  ix 

different  directions  the  only  alternative  to  repetition 
is  to  omit  something  and  run  the  risk  of  being  mis- 
understood— a  real  risk,  as  I  have  often  found  to 
my  cost.  There  is,  however,  one  deliberate  repeti- 
tion, for  which  I  offer  no  apology.  It  is  insistence 
on  the  principle  of  self -responsibility,  if  I  may  coin 
a  word.  A  social  philosophy  is  current  to-day  which 
proclaims  collective,  but  denies  individual,  responsi- 
bility; which  would  make  every  one  responsible  for 
every  one  else,  but  not  for  himself;  or,  taking  an- 
other form,  would  relieve  some  individuals  of  all 
responsibility  for  their  own  conduct  and  would  call 
others  to  account  not  only  for  themselves  but  for 
the  rest.  These  confused  ideas,  which  profane  the 
names  of  Science  and  of  Social  Reform,  are  the 
product  of  a  civilisation  suffering  from  senile 
dementia.  Whether  we  are  our  brothers'  keepers  or 
not,  we  must  first  be  our  own,  if  there  is  to  be  any 
responsibility  at  all.  To  deny  it  is  to  deny  free 
will,  which  may  be  well  enough  as  a  philosophical 
speculation,  but  is  fatal  in  real  life.  If,  for  instance, 
the  consumer  of  liquor  is  the  helpless  victim  of  heredi- 
tary tendencies,  irresistible  cravings,  environment, 
temptation,  laws,  and  systems,  the  seller  is  no  less 
at  the  mercy  of  the  same  forces  and  equally  irre- 
sponsible. He  suffers  from  an  irresistible  craving  (to 
make  money)  and  cannot  withstand  the  temptation 
(of  seeing  so  many  thirsty  people  about  him).    And 


X  DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

SO  with  all  of  us;  you  cannot  pick  and  choose  in 
responsibility.  By  the  same  reasoning  we  are  all  the 
products  of  ancestry  and  environment,  all  the  pup- 
pets of  circumstance.  And  the  State,  being  but  a 
collection  of  such  puppets,  is  a  fortiori  helpless  and 
irresponsible.  From  this  impasse  there  is  no  logical 
escape  if  we  once  tamper  with  the  principle  of  indi- 
vidual responsibility.  The  whole  social  fabric  is  built 
upon  it;  dislodge  the  foundation  and  it  all  topples 
down.  Temperance  reformers  certainly  do  not  desire 
that;  but  the  fallacy  that  leads  to  it  takes  many 
disguises  and  creeps  in  unrecognised ;  it  is  subtle  and 
pervasive.  How  it  pervades  and  colours  the  liquor 
question  will,  I  hope,  be  made  clear  in  the  following 
pages ;  for  I  believe  we  are  still  sane  enough  to  throw 
off  the  delusions  of  dementia,  when  we  see  them,  and 
to  resume  a  healthy  habit  of  thought. 

April,  1902. 


CONTENTS^ 

CHAPTER  I 

INTEODUCTORY  AND  PEBSONAL 


PAGE 


Author's  study  of  the  liquor  traffic — Knowledge  of  its 
actualities  important — Want  of  such  knowledge 
among  reformers — Lord  Salisbury's  wisdom — Oppo- 
sition to  schemes  of  reform — People  who  use  the 
public-house  not  consulted — The  *  solution '  fallacy 
— Evils  of  drink — ^Alternative  evils — Diminution  of 
drimkenness  accompanied  by  increase  of  betting — 
Moral  law  the  only  *  solution ' — Total  abstinence 
necessary  for  inebriates — Good  for  others  but  not 
for  all 1-13 


*•  CHAPTER  II 

DBINK  nsr  THE  PAST 

Excessive  indulgence  prevalent  from  the  earliest  times 
— ^The  Ancient  Britons — The  Saxons — Drinking 
healths — Temperance  movement  a.d.  570 — King  Ed- 
gar, Dunstan,  and  *  drinking  to  pegs  ' — The  Danes 
and  Normans — English  beer  in  1130 — Early  closing 
in  the  thirteenth  century — Complaints  of  excessive 
number  of  taverns  in  1330 — Power  given  to  justices 
to  suppress  them  in  1495 — Licensing  introduced  in 
1 55 1-— Camden  on  the  increase  of  drunkenness — 
Bacon  and  other  writers  in  the  Elizabethan  age — 
The  liquor  traffic  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century — ^Repressive  Acts  in  1603,  1607,  and 


xii         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


PAGB 


1610 — Burton  on  drinking  in  1621 — ^The  clergy  im- 
plicated— Drunkenness  among  the  Puritan  troops 
— Female  drunkenness  in  1657 — Adulteration — 
Consumption  of  beer  in  1688 — Home  manufacture 
of  spirits — Defoe  on  the  English  working  man — Gin 
Act  of  1736 — Increased  consumption  of  spirits — 
Shocking  state  of  things — Number  of  bars  and  con- 
sumption per  head  in  London — Gin  Act  repealed — 
Fielding  on  gin — ^Moderate  legislation  in  1751  more 
successful — Beer  v.  spirits — Drunkenness  among 
the  upper  classes — The  public-house  in  the  eight- 
eenth century — ^Medical  attack  on  intemperance — 
London  in  1824 — Beer-house  Act  of  1830 — Select 
Committee  of  1834 — Remarkable  evidence — Female 
and  juvenile  drunkenness — Sunday  mornings — 
Drinking  a  condition  of  employment  for  working 
men — Conclusions  of  Committee        ....       14-42 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   DECLINE   OF    DRUNKENNESS 

'^  New  era  since  1830-40 — Important  changes — Organic 
improvement — Select  Committee  of  1854 — Evidence 
of  improved  conduct  of  liquor  traffic — Abuses  still 
existing — Increase  of  intemperance  1867-76 — House 
of  Lords  Committee  of  1876 — Evidence  of  improve- 
ment— Reduction  of  public-houses — Dnmkenness 
more  confined  to  lowest  grades  of  society — Royal 
Commission  of  1896-99 — Evidence  of  improvement 
from  all  parts  of  England — Scotland — Ireland—^ 
Statistics  of  drunkenness — London  1834-92 — Liver- 
pool 1866-95 — Glasgow  1857-96 — England  and 
Wales  1857-98— Ireland  1885-95— Reduction  of  li- 
censes 1831-91— Consumption  of  alcohol  1831-99   .       43-74 


CHAPTER  IV 

FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS 

Alleged  increase — Distinction  between  upper  and  lower 
classes — Increase  among  former — Its  causes — 
Feminine    emancipation — Narcotic    drugs — Lower 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAOB 

classes — Alleged  diminution — Sir  John  Bridge — 
Alleged  increase — Dr.  Norman  Kerr — Death-rate8 
.  from  intemperance — Critically  examined — Police 
'  statistics  1874-98 — Remarkable  diminution — Less 
than  among  men — The  reasons — Women  more  often 
habitual  inebriates — Statistics  in  Liverpool  and 
Dundee — Conclusion 76-89 

CHAPTER  V 

THE   FORCES    OF   TEMPEBANCE 

Temperance  Societies  and  Liquor  Laws — Origin  of 
temperance  organisation  1826 — Belfast  and  Glas- 
gow 1829 — Yorkshire  and  Lancashire  1830 — London 
— British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society  183i — 
Queen  Victoria — Teetotalism  1832 — Dissensions — 
Father  Mathew  1838-42 — His  wonderful  success — 
Comes  to  England  1843 — Decline  of  the  temperance 
movement — ^Also  in  United  States — ^The  Maine  law 

'^  — ^The  United  Kingdom  Alliance — Revival  of  move- 
ment 1860 — Political  element — Benefit  Societies — 
Good  Templars — Church  of  England  Temperance 
Society — *  Danesbury  House  * — Membership  of  So- 
cieties— Juvenile  abstainers — Failure  of  teetotal- 
ism— ^Liquor  laws — Activity  of  Legislature — Act 
of  1834 — Metropolitan  Police  Act  1839 — Beer-house 
Amendment  Act  1840 — Gaming  Act  1845 — Acts 
1854-55,  Sunday  closing  in  Scotland — Act  of  1860, 
Grocers*  Licenses — Acts  1861-64 — Wine  and  Beer- 
house Act  1869 — Licensing  Acts  1872  and  1874 — 
Their  beneficial  effects — Sunday  closing  in  Ireland 
1878— In  Wales  1881— Acts  1882-1901— Other  in- 
fluences— Public  opinion — Indirect  effects  of  So- 
cieties— Example  of  upper  classes — The  Court — 
The  future 90-114 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE    FOBCES    OF   INTEMPEEANCE 

Physiological  effect  of  alcohol — ^People  drink  because 
they  like  it — Its  exhilarating  effect — ^Most  desired 
in  circumstances  of  depression — ^Hence  influence  of 
climate — Drunken  countries  in  North  of  Europe — 


xiv        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AlO)  LEGISLATION 


Sobriety  of  the  South — Consumption  per  head  no 
measure  of  sobriety — Diffused  and  concentrated 
y-  drinking — Distribution  of  drunkenness  in  the 
United  Kingdom — Greater  in  North  and  West  than 
in  South  and  East — Scotland — Spirit  drinking  and 
climate — Sweden — Influence  of  race — ^Hungarians 
— Celts — ^Abstemious  nations  decadent — ^Heredity 
and  the  Darwinian  theory — Influence  of  occupation 
— Seaports,  mining,  manufacturing,  and  agricul- 
tural districts  compared — The  most  and  the  least 
alcoholic  classes — Other  conditions  of  life — ^The 
real  attraction  of  the  public-house — Conviviality — 
Facilities — Need  of  restriction — Number  of  public- 
houses  and  drunkenness — Deficiency  of  regular 
facilities — Clubs — Hours  of  closing — Arrangement 
of  premises — Food  and  non-intoxicants — State  of 
wages — Price  of  liquor — Children  and  the  public- 
house — Public  opinion — The  temptation  theory  and 
irresponsibility 115-157 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  PBINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOB  LKQISLATIOISr 

The  right  to  legislate — Proposed  drastic  measures — 
Need  of  guiding  principles — Material  for  forming 
them — Ignored  by  Peel  Conmiission — Functions  of 
the  law— Order  and  justice — Limits  of  the  law  in 
dealing  with  moral  evils — Criminal  law — Success- 
ful legislation — Police  Act  1839 — Other  closing 
Acts — Sunday  closing — Acts  of  1869,  1872,  and 
1874 — Evidence  of  their  success — tjnsuccessful 
legislation — Gin  Act  1736 — Beer-house  Act  1830 — 
Act  of  1860 — The  Gothenburg  system — Other  Scan- 
dinavian legislation — Good  effects  of  restriction — 
Compulsory  virtue  in  the  United  States — Its  effects 
— Local  option — Limited  application — Distinction 
between  spheres  of  law  and  moral  agencies — Tend- 
ency to  confound  them 168-176 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  VIII 

THEIB  APPLICATION 


PAQB 


The  aim  of  the  law — The  disorderly  person — ^Requires 
more  severe  treatment — Suggestions — The  dis- 
orderly place — Grocers*  licenses — Clubs — Public- 
houses — Local  option — *  Trust  the  people  * — Would 
leave  the  disorderly  traffic  untouched — Disinter- 
ested management — Its  limits — Existing  legal  ma- 
chinery— Its  success  and  failure — Its  defects — The 
police — Weak  points — Watch  Committees — Effi- 
cient supervision  of  liquor  traffic — Liverpool  model 
system — Its  success — Railway  refreshment  bars — 
The  magistrates — Their  leniency — Suggestions-^ 
The  licensing  bench — Its  functions  judicial  not  pa- 
ternal— Opposition  excited  by  temperance  zeal — A 
popularly  elected  element — Reasons  against — Ire- 
land— Licensing  courts  should  be  made  more  ju- 
dicial— *  Superfluous  '  public-houses — Tied  houses 
— Attack  the  wrong-doer — Disorderly  hours — 
Earlier  closing — Sunday  closing  in  England — Con- 
clusion   177-199 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE 

The  customers — The  publican — His  difficulties — ^Atti- 
tude to  customers — Visit  of  observation  to  the 
East-end  of  London — The  exterior — Its  influence 
overrated — The  interior — Its  arrangement — Pri- 
vacy and  women — The  liquor — ^Adulteration — In 
eighteenth  century — In  the  present  day — Current 
fallacies — Proportion  of  intoxicated  persons  to 
drinkers — ^A  dramatic  incident — Drimkards — The 
deliberate  drunkard — A  working  man  on  the  pub- 
lic-house— The  publican  and  drunkenness — 'Push- 
ing the  sale' — Sale  of  non-intoxicants — Difficulty 
of  preventing  drunkenness — Women  and  children 
in  -the  public-house — Responsibility  of  parents — 
Betting  in  public-houses — Conclusion        .        .        .  200-223 


XYi        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE 

PAGB 

Lord  Grey's  trust  scheme — The  first  model  public- 
house — The  Rev.  Osbert  Mordaunt — ^History  of  the 
Boar's  Head  at  Hampton  Lucy — Mr.  Mordaunt's 
experience — Difiiculty  in  obtaining  good  beer — 
Tricks  of  the  trade — Financial  results— Good  ef- 
fects in  the  village — The  house  described — The 
village  ale-house — ^How  it  diflFers  from  the  urban 
house — ^Reasons  why  less  well  conducted — The 
liquor — Bad  stuff  sent  from  the  brewery — ^Advan- 
tages of  the  model  system — ^Mr.  Mordaimt's  advice 
—Probable  effects  of  the  trust  system     .       .        .  224-238 


CHAPTER  XI 

OOTHENBUBG    AND    THE   SCANDINAVLIN    SYSTEM 

Attractions  of  the  system — ^Two  ways  of  studying  it — 
Gothenburg — The  town  described — The  liquor 
traffic— The  Gothenburg  system— The  Bolag— The 
model  spirit-house — Scene  inside — ^The  liquor — 
Swedish  capacity  for  drinking — Further  details  of 
management — The  'oflF'  traffic — Beer-houses  and 
beer — Effects  of  the  system — On  consumption — 
On  drunkenness — The  drunkenness  of  Gothenburg 
— Compared  with  England  and  Scotland — Increase 
due  to  beer — Female  drimkenness — General  effect 
on  the  working  classes — Benefit  of^  exchanging 
spirits  for  beer — *  Clubbing ' — Methylated  spirits — 
Probable  effect  of  system  in  England — Gothenburg 
compared  with  Cardiff — ^The  police — Greater  license 
permitted  in  Sweden — Detailed  reforms  considered 
— Elimination  of  personal  profit — Early  closing 
the  most  important  reform — Difficulties  of  apply- 
ing it  in  England — Other  towns  in  Sweden  and 
Norway 239-270 


CONTENTS  xvU 


CHAPTER  Xn 

HABriXTAL  INEBBIATSS 


PAOI 


Retreats  and  reformatories — ^Amount  of  accommoda- 
tion— Inebriates  classified — The  experience  of  re- 
treats— Small  number  of  patients — Legal  condi- 
tions— Majority  of  patients  enter  for  short  terms 
— Their  dislike  of  restraint — Procuring  liquor — 
Demoralising  atmosphere — ^A  patient  quoted — 
Results — Reformatories — Compulsory  restraint — 
Moral  aspect  of  inebriety  overlooked — *  Irresistible 
craving ' — Dr.  Johnson — De  Quincey — Abstinence 
not  a  moral  cure — Warning  against  discourage- 
ment— DiflBculty  of  dealing  compulsorily  with  non- 
criminal cases — Compared  with  lunatics — Begin- 
ners would  not  be  affected — Nor  the  bulk  of  work- 
ing-class drunkards — Women — Conclusion  .  271-294 


BiBLIOQBAPHT 295-296 

Index       ... 297-302 


DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY  AND  PERSONAL 

An  explanation  of  my  interest  in  the  drink  question 
seems  due  to  the  reader,  and  desirable  in  order  to 
make  clear  the  point  of  view  maintained  in  what 
follows;  but  it  is  not  essential,  and  this  chapter  may 
be  skipped.  It  contains  my  credentials,  so  to  speak, 
and  cannot  avoid  being  uncomfortably  egotistic. 

Some  years  ago  I  was  much  engaged  in  the 
investigation  of  strikes  and  other  labour  questions. 
In  order  to  get  at  the  minds  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  men — which  is  indispensable  to  a  real  under- 
standing of  such  matters,  though  generally  neglected 
— I  sought  them  where  they  most  congregate  and 
most  readily  enter  into  conversation,  namely,  in  the 
public-house.  I  was  thus  led  to  spend  a  great  deal 
of  time  in  public-houses  frequented  by  working  men, 
conversing  with  them  and  joining  in  their  pro- 
ceedings on  a  friendly  footing,  which  included  the 
consumption  of  vast  quantities  of  *  four  ale.'    I  soon 


2       dm:^  tempskance,  and  legislation 

became  interested  in  what  went  on  apart  from  the 
immediate  question  in  hand,  and  fell  into  the  habit 
of  observing  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  place 
and  of  the  people  frequenting  it.  Many  things 
struck  my  attention  which  were  quite  at  variance 
with  statements  I  had  often  seen,  and  still  see,  made 
in  public  by  persons  interested  in  the  liquor  question 
but  possessing  only  a  second-hand  knowledge  of  its 
actualities.  I  pursued  the  subject  further  and  made 
a  regular  study  of  it,  not  only  in  all  parts  of  this 
country  but  abroad;  and  I  have  since  kept  it  up. 
It  has,  in  fact,  been  my  practice  for  several  years 
past  to  observe  the  habits  of  the  people  and  the 
conduct  of  the  liquor  traffic  on  the  spot,  wherever 
I  go,  at  home  or  abroad.  Every  part  of  London 
and  every  class  of  house  is  familiar  to  me,  from  the 
fashionable  restaurant  to  the  sailors*  dancing  saloons 
(now  abolished)  in  what  used  to  be  Ratcliff  Highway, 
the  foreign  clubs  about  Soho  and  the  so-called 
*  opium  dens '  frequented  by  Chinese  firemen  in 
Limehouse  Causeway.  I  have  made  similar  observa- 
tions in  most  of  the  large  centres  of  population 
in  these  islands,  in  mining  villages  and  purely 
agricultural  districts;  I  have  explored  the  lowest 
drinkshops  in  Paris  by  day  and  by  night,  alone  and 
with  the  police,  and  have  carried  on  my  researches 
in  nearly  every  country  in  Europe  and  in  Canada. 
In  short  I  may  fairly  say  that  my  acquaintance 
with  the  pothouse  and  its  ways  is  *  extensive  and 
peculiar.' 

These   observations   have   been  supplemented,   as 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  PERSONAL  3 

will  be  seen  from  subsequent  chapters,  by  other 
studies.  I  have  laboured  over  statistical  returns, 
reports  of  official  inquiries,  historical  and  other 
literature;  and  I  happen — by  chance,  not  design — to 
have  had  experience  of  dipsomania,  far  more  close 
and  intimate,  though  less  extensive,  than  that  of 
the  keeper  of  an  inebriate  home.  I  also  heard  all 
the  evidence  given  before  the  Peel  Commission — 
it  fills  nine  closely  printed  Blue-books  of  the  largest 
size — and  wrote  an  abstract  of  it.  Few  phases  of 
the  subject,  therefore,  are  unfamiliar  to  me,  but  I 
attach  the  greatest  importance  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  actual  living  thing.  It  seems  to  me  the  indis- 
pensable foundation  for  a  clear  comprehension  of 
the  problem  as  a  whole,  for  without  such  knowledge 
it  is  difficult  to  interpret  and  appraise  other  evidence, 
which  always  varies  widely  and  is  often  apparently 
contradictory.  For  instance,  there  is  the  all-impor- 
tant question  of  the  execution  of  the  law.  As  we 
all  know,  laws  on  the  statute-book  are  one  thing, 
laws  in  operation  another;  and  whatever  measures 
may  be  passed  for  the  control  or  suppression  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  their  efficacy  depends  on  the  action  of 
the  police.  To  understand  that,  we  ought  to  know 
what  goes  on  and  the  conditions  under  which  the 
police  have  to  act.  Then  there  is  the  question  of 
improvement  or  the  contrary  in  the  conduct  of  the 
liquor  traffic  and  the  effect  of  legislation  or  other 
influences  upon  it.  One  can  hardly  judge  whether 
things  are  getting  better  or  worse  without  knowing 
them  as  they  are. 


K 


4  DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Again,  there  is  the  fundamental  question  of  the 
mutual  relations  between  the  people  and  the  liquor 
trade,  their  attitude  towards  it  and  its  attitude  to- 
wards them;  their  habits  and  behaviour  with  regard 
to  drink,  how  far  they  are  *  driven  '  or  *  drawn  '  to  it 
or  seek  it  proprio  motu.  These  things  can  only  be 
learnt  by  observation  inside  the  public-house.  Theo- 
retical considerations  may  be  very  fallacious,  and 
second-hand  information  often  needs  checking.  In 
addition  to  such  general  questions  we  are  confronted 
with  a  string  of  minor  details — child  messengers,  the 
arrangement  of  premises,  compartments,  side-doors, 
the  sale  of  non-intoxicants,  the  serving  of  drunken 
persons,  the  preservation  of  order,  tied  v.  free  houses, 
disinterested  management,  and  so  forth.  A  real 
insight  into  these  and  the  like  questions  cannot  well 
be  acquired  without  studying  them  from  the  inside. 
At  IcEist  such  study  cannot  fail  to  be  highly  instruc- 
tive, and  the  wider  the  field  of  observation  the  greater 
the  instruction  derived  from  it. 

I  cannot  help  thinking  it  a  great  pity  that  those 
who  take  the  keenest  interest  in  the  subject  and  are 
most  eager  to  deal  with  it  by  legislation  should 
possess  so  very  little  of  this  inside  knowledge.  What 
they  do  know — it  is  that,  of  course,  which  makes 
them  eager — is  the  evil  of  intemperance,  the  effects 
of  which  are  visible  in  the  streets,  the  home,  and 
the  police-court;  but  to  be  familiar  with  effects 
is  not  a  sufficient  equipment  for  grappling  with 
causes.  It  provides  the  motive,  not  the  knowledge. 
Contemplation  of  the  devastation  caused  by  a  flood 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  PERSONAL  5 

and  an  earnest  desire  to  remedy  it  do  not  qualify 
any  one  to  undertake  the  task.  The  emotional  spec- 
tator, without  knowledge,  thinks  it  quite  simple. 
*  The  river  must  be  stopped,'  he  says  decisively,  and 
cannot  understand  that  any  one  should  oppose  such 
an  obvious  solution  except  from  sheer  love  of  floods. 
Singularly  enough  the  engineer  does  not  see  it  in  the 
same  light. 

Lord  Salisbury  was  severely  taken  to  task  for  say- 
ing not  long  ago  in  the  House  of  Lords  that  the 
matter  of  liquor  reform  required  great  consideration 
because  it  was  a  case  of  the  cellared  classes  legislat- 
ing for  the  uncellared.  Some  critics  were  astonished 
and  others  indignant  at  the  *  flippancy  '  of  putting 
off  this  important  question  with  a  truism  which 
applies  to  our  whole  body  of  liquor  laws,  as  if  it  were 
a  new  thing.  Lord  Salisbury's  critics  failed  to  see 
the  point  of  his  remark  because — as  not  infrequently 
happens — they  had  not  an  equal  grasp  of  the  subject. 
He  really  went  to  the  heart  of  it.  So  many  blunders 
have  been  committed  in  the  past  just  because  one 
class  has  always  legislated  for  another  without  suffi- 
ciently knowing  the  conditions;  and  it  is  for  the 
same  reason  that  there  is  so  much  division  and  con- 
troversy now  and  so  much  danger  of  blundering 
again. 

The  opposition  offered  to  many  schemes  of  liquor 
legislation  is  always  ascribed  by  their  promoters  to 
the  machinations  of  the  trade.  No  doubt  there  is 
opposition  on  the  part  of  liquor  sellers,  who,  like 
other  people,  resent  interference  with  their  business, 


6  DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

and  they  are  a  powerful  body.  But  the  suggestion 
is  that  by  some  obscure  influence  they  induce  others, 
who  have  not  the  same  direct  interest,  to  join  in  fight- 
ing their  battles.  A  recent  pronouncement  of  this 
kind  may  be  quoted  as  typical.  At  a  meeting  held  in 
Ijambeth  Palace  to  advocate  Sunday  closing,  the  noble- 
man who  moved  the  resolution  said  that 

*  in  fighting  this  question  they  had  to  contend  with 
the  opposition  of  the  trade,  which  was  strong  in 
wealth,  in  active  co-operation  and  organisation,  and, 
above  all,  in  a  subtle  influence  which  permeated  every 
street  and  every  city  and  almost  every  lane  of  every 
village  and  hamlet. '  ^ 

If  his  lordship  had  that  inside  knowledge  of  the 
liquor  traffic  to  which  I  refer,  he  would  understand 
the  *  subtle  influence  '  and  the  opposition  better.  I 
venture  to  think — ^indeed  I  know — ^that  a  great  part 
of  the  opposition  is  not  due  to  any  machinations  of 
the  trade,  but  to  ignorance  of  the  forces  with  which 
they  have  to  deal  commonly  displayed  by  temperance 
reformers.  They  want  to  stop  the  river  v^ithout 
studying  its  origin  and  course,  and  the  many  who 
know  it  well  perceive  that  the  naive  plan  is  imprac- 
ticable. How  many  temperance  reformers  have  ever 
set  foot  inside  a  public-house?  I  often  think,  when 
I  read  the  account  of  enthusiastic  meetings  and  the 
speeches  delivered  at  them,  what  an  instructive 
change  it  would  be  if  the  audience  and  the  speakers 
would  adjourn  to  the  public-house  and  acquire  a  little 
practical  knowledge  on  the  subject.  For  while  they 
»  Standard,  February  14,  1902. 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  PERSONAL  7 

are  enjoying  themselves  at  the  meeting  with  intoxi- 
cating words  about  the  wishes  of  the  people,  the 
people  are  enjoying  themselves  at  the  public-house 
with  intoxicating  liquor,  and  are  about  as  much  dis- 
posed to  abandon  that  privilege  as  the  reformers 
would  be  to  support  a  measure  for  the  suppression 
of  meetings. 

It  was  not  even  thought  necessary  to  consult 
them  when  an  exhaustive  inquiry  was  recently  held 
into  the  operation  of  the  liquor  laws.  Everybody 
else  was  consulted.  Hundreds  of  witnesses  repre- 
senting every  other  interest,  including  the  trade, 
were  called  and  encouraged  to  state  their  views  and 
fancies,  often  at  intolerable  length;  but  the  people, 
who  are  the  vital  factor  in  determining  the  ultimate 
result,  whose  desires,  needs,  and  habits  form  the  real 
test  by  which  every  measure  stands  or  falls  in 
practice,  and  by  which,  therefore,  it  should  be  judged 
— they  were  ignored.  Two  or  three  presented  them- 
selves, and  received  the  scant  attention  which  they 
deserved  for  thrusting  forward  their  opinions  on  a 
matter  which  seems  to  be  the  business  of  everybody 
except  those  who  are  most  concerned.  There  is 
something  ludicrous  in  the  lists  of  witnesses  and  their 
occupations,  apart  from  the  magistrates,  police,  and 
others  who  had  a  real  connection  with  the  question, 
and  gave  valuable  evidence.  It  is  as  though  one 
were  to  hold  an  inquiry  into  coal-mines,  and  were 
to  call  up  the  butcher,  the  baker,  the  candlestick- 
maker,  and  solemnly  elicit  their  views,  while  leaving 
out  the  miner.     But  it  was  typical  of  the  manner 


8  DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

in  which  the  subject  is  usually  approached.  Truly 
local  option  is  more  reasonable:  nominally,  at  least, 
it  sets  out  to  give  those  who  use  the  public-house  a 
say  in  the  matter. 

One  disadvantage  of  living  in  an  atmosphere  of 
words  untempered  by  reality  is  that  we  become  the 
slaves  of  phrases.    All  questions  of  social  legislation 
abound   in   them,    and   there   is   one   master-phrase 
which    applies    to   them    all — the    *  solution   of   the 
problem.'     We  see  so  many  problems,   as  it  were, 
set  up  in  a  row,  and  each  is  supposed  to  have  a 
solution  somewhere,  like  so  many  poisons  and  their 
antidotes.     The  game  is  to  find  the  solution.     *  A 
solution  must  be  found,'  say  the  newspapers  oracu- 
larly, and  we  all  cry  our  nostrums  in  the  market- 
place.     Eventually    the    political    parties   begin    to 
fight  over  one  of  them,  and  then  its  fortune  is  made. 
The   game   is   played   more   often   with  temperance 
than  with  anything  else.     The  number  of  solutions 
is  so  great,  and  each  has  such  splendid  testimonials, 
that  the  bewildered  public  does  not  know  which  to 
choose.     By   a  solution   is   meant   some   system   or 
scheme  which  shall  be  a  short  cut  to  virtue,  and  shall 
accomplish  by  a  wave  of  the  legislative  wand  that 
which  all  the  efforts  of  all  the  saints  and  sages  have 
failed  to  achieve  in  a  score  of  centuries.     If  it  does 
not  profess  to  do  quite  so  much  as  that,  it  promises 
at  least  a  great  reformation,   and  therein  lies  its 
attractiveness. 

The  belief  in  a  solution  of  the  drink  problem  in 
this  sense  is  a  delusion,  and  its  domination  is  mis- 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  PERSONAL  9 

chievous,  because  it  turns  away  the  eyes  of  people 
from  the  straight  and  narrow  way,  and  fixes  them 
on  an  alluring  vision,  which  they  cannot  reach. 
No  one  can  study  the  actualities  at  first  hand 
without  discovering  that  alcoholic  indulgence  is  far 
too  deeply  rooted  in  human  nature  to  be  dug  out  by 
any  summary  process.  The  most  despotic  power 
could  not  do  it,  for  its  decrees  would  not  be  executed. 
The  sooner  we  get  rid  of  the  solution  fetish  and  its 
specious  promises,  the  more  clearly  shall  we  see 
the  way  before  us,  and  the  more  firmly  tread  it.  To 
that  end  I  would  say — pay  less  attention  to  words 
and  more  to  actual  life. 

Another  lesson  derived  from  observation  may  be 
mentioned  here.  The  reader  will  perhaps  notice  in 
this  volume  an  omission  unusual  in  a  book  on  drink, 
and  needing  some  explanation.  Nothing,  or  very 
little,  is  said  about  the  evils  of  drink.  They  have 
been  so  often  and  so  fully  detailed  that  I  thought  it 
unnecessary  to  repeat  them,  but  as  a  frequenter  of 
public-houses  I  feel  bound  to  say  something  on  the 
subject.  I  think  the  individual  harm  done  by  drink 
— the  absolute  degradation  and  ruin,  the  misery  and 
cruelty  resulting — cannot  possibly  be  over-stated. 
But  the  collective  harm  seems  to  me  often  exag- 
gerated. People  speak  as  if  they  believe  that  the 
abolition  of  drink  would  virtually  put  an  end  to 
poverty,  vice,  and  crime,  and  that  all  the  money 
saved  from  the  public-house  would  be  sheer  gain  and 
spent  on  useful  things.  Singular  delusion.  Is 
there   no   poverty,   vice,    and    crime    in    abstemious 


/^ 


10         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

countries  ?  Ten  times  more  than  in  our  own  drunken 
one.  And  with  us  *  nine-tenths  of  the  crimes  are 
crimes  against  property,  and  would  not  be  affected 
by  drunkenness  *  (Judicial  Statistics,  1901).  Even 
crimes  of  violence  do  not  correspond  with  the  amount 
of  drink  and  drunkenness.  The  consumption  of 
drink  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  1899  was  about 
8  per  cent,  higher  than  the  average  for  1894-8,  and 
the  police  drunkenness  in  England  and  Wales  was 
15  per  cent,  higher;  but  the  crimes  of  violence — 
namely,  common  assaults,  aggravated  assaults,  as- 
saults on  constables,  felonious  and  malicious  wound- 
ing— decreased  1.62  per  cent.  (Introduction  to 
Judicial  Statistics,  1901).  I  do  not  seek  to  extenu- 
ate intemperance.  Far  from  it.  I  have  an  intense 
abhorrence  of  it,  and  regard  a  drunken  person  with 
an  unchristian  disgust  and  contempt  of  which  I  am 
sometimes  ashamed.  But  I  see  that  there  are  other 
things,  less  tangible  and  visible,  but  not  less  degrad- 
ing. Intemperance  is  not  a  moral  diseeise,  only  a 
symptom.  The  disease,  the  real  malady  that  manifests 
itself  in  this  and  many  other  forms,  is  that  moral 
weakness  which  prefers  immediate  gratification  to 
ultimate  good.  And  the  symptoms  are  largely 
interchangeable,  though  several  may  co-exist  to- 
gether. Drink  and  gambling,  for  instance,  are  to  a 
great  extent  complementary;  as  one  wanes  the  other 
waxes.  The  sober  nations  in  the  south  of  Europe 
are  fierce  and  incorrigible  gamblers ;  and  in  our  own 
country,  as  the  habit  of  intoxication  has  dropped 
into  disfavour  lower  and  lower  in  the  social  scale,  its 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  PERSONAL       11 

place  has  been  taken  by  betting,  which  has  become 
increasingly  prevalent  among  the  working  classes.^ 

I  have  watched  the  process  myself  and  have 
made  some  investigation  into  the  prevalence  of 
betting.  There  is  no  doubt  that  money  saved  from 
the  public-house  goes  chiefly  into  the  pockets  of 
bookmakers.  The  vice  is  morally  more  degrading 
than  indulgence  in  drink,  for  it  appeals  to  a  baser 
motive  and  it  causes  a  vast  amount  of  poverty,  misery, 
and  crime.  The  police  constantly  get  the  most 
piteous  letters  from  relatives  begging  them  to  stop 
it.  The  evidence  given  before  the  House  of 
Lords  Committee  will  bear  me  out.  Here  are  the 
remarks  of  Mr.  Horace  Smith,  metropolitan  police- 
magistrate  : 

*  His  experience  was  that  while  crime  in  general 
was  decreasing,  cases  of  fraud  and  embezzlement  were 
increasing,  and  he  believed  this  was  due  to  betting. 
People  started  betting,  and  when  they  lost  they  be- 
gan to  rob.  .  .  . 

*  Is  not  betting  among  the  poor  increased  owing 
to  its  prevalence  among  the  rich  1 — I  cannot  help  sus- 
pecting it,  but  I  cannot  say  that  it  is.  In  my  great- 
grandfather's day  they  used  to  get  drunk  and  roll 
under  the  table.  I  am  glad,  however,  that  poor  peo- 
ple are  beginning  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  it  is 
not  correct  to  get  drunk  now.  I  should  like  to  be 
able  to  say  the  same  thing  in  regard  to  betting,  but 
I  am  afraid  it  is  impossible.  *  ^ 

*  The  prosecutions  for  gaming  increased  116.36  per  cent,  in 
1895-9  over  1880-4  (Judicial  Statistics,  1901).  Those  for 
drunkenness  in  the  same  periods  show  a  marked  fall  {see 
Chapter  III). 

*  Times,  February   15,   1902. 


12        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

So,  too,  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Horsley,  formerly  chaplain 
of  Clerkenwell  Prison.  When  chaplain,  he  *  saw 
that  betting  was  increasing  very  much,  and  had  heard 
from  chaplains  since  he  left  that  it  was  increasing 
still  more  now.'  On  the  other  hand,  *  he  could  say 
that  there  is  much  less  drinking  among  working  men 
than  there  was  years  ago. '  ^ 

Betting  is  only  one  of  several  alternative  vices, 
which  are  often  supposed  to  be  the  monopoly  of  the 
idle  rich,  but  are  enormously  prevalent  in  the  lower 
social  strata.  I  have  heard  betting  defended  on  the 
ground  that  men  who  do  not  bet  spend  their  money 
on  women,  and  there  is  no  doubt  some  truth  in  this 
allegation.  However,  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  write 
a  treatise  on  vice.  I  merely  wish  to  show  that 
the  whole  question  touches  much  wider  and  deeper 
issues  than  are  dreamt  of  in  the  problem-and-solution 
philosophy.  We  cannot  assume  that  if  by  some 
device  the  poorer  classes  were  prevented  from 
spending  on  the  publican  the  monstrous  proportion 
of  their  earnings  which  still  goes  into  his  pocket — 
and  I  fully  agree  that  it  is  monstrous — they  would 
devote  it  to  any  worthier  object.  In  other  words  they 
do  not  spend  it  to  please  him  but  to  please  themselves. 
The  bearing  of  this  fundamental  fact  is  fully  discussed 
later  on.  The  ultimate  lesson  to  be  drawn  from  it  is 
that  the  only  *  solution  '  lies  in  the  moral  law  working 
through  the  individual. 

With  regard  to  total  abstinence  my  own  opinion 
is  that  for  habitual  inebriates  abstinence  is  the  only 
*•  Timest  March  20,  1902. 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  PERSONAL        13 

chance,  and  that  many  other  people  are  better  in 
health  without  alcoholic  liquor.  But  for  many  it  is 
a  good  thing.  I  know  it  is  a  good  thing  for  myself. 
I  have  virtually  abstained  on  various  occasions  for 
months  together  and  have  no  difficulty  in  doing  so. 
Nor  does  it  affect  me  prejudicially  at  first.  But 
after  a  time  my  brain  suffers  from  lack  of  nutrition 
and  will  not  work  so  well.  I  derive  immediate 
benefit  from  the  use  of  wine  or  beer.  Perhaps  I 
should  add  that  I  come  of  abstemious  parentage 
and  was  very  sparing  all  my  youth.  Once  when  at 
school  I  got  a  wound  on  the  finger  at  cricket,  which 
obstinately  refused  to  heal.  At  last  the  surgeon, 
having  exhausted  his  art,  ordered  me  a  glass  of  port 
wine  every  day.  The  place  healed  at  once.  I  have 
seen  many  cases  in  which  the  moderate  use  of 
alcoholic  liquor  as  an  article  of  diet  has  been  equally 
beneficial.  But  it  is  a  mistake  to  lay  down  abso- 
lute rules.  There  is  no  law  applicable  to  everybody; 
individuals  differ  so  much.  I  suppose  it  is  true 
enough  that  many  people  drink  too  much,  yet  never 
exceed  to  intoxication.  But  then,  we  are  all  always 
doing  things  *  too  much.'  We  eat  too  much,  work 
too  much,  and  talk  too  much.  What  is  *  too  much  *? 
What  is  the  final  test  and  the  object  of  life?  Let 
us  remember  that  there  is  something  more  obnoxious 
to  God  and  man  than  mere  physical  excess :  and  that 
is  self-righteousness,  and  the  desire  to  regulate  our 
neighbours*  lives  by  some  little  formula  which  hap- 
pens to  suit  ourselves. 


14        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


CHAPTER  II 

DRINK   IN   THE  PAST 

Excessive  indulgence  in  strong  drink  has  prevailed 
in  this  country  from  the  earliest  times.  We  may- 
go  back  century  after  century  until  all  records  fail, 
and  find  the  same  complaints  about  the  appalling 
havoc  wrought  by  drink,  the  bad  habits  of  the  people, 
the  superabundance  of  public-houses  and  the  need 
for  measures  of  reform,  reappearing  again  and  again 
as  something  new.  The  evidence  left  by  writers 
from  age  to  age  is  sufficiently  contiQuous  to  show 
that  we  have  always  been  a  drunken  nation,  and 
sufficiently  explicit  to  prove  beyond  the  possibility 
of  denial  that  in  times  past  the  evil  has  been  incom- 
parably greater  than  anything  within  modem  ex- 
perience. As  with  crime,  poverty,  ignorance,  brutal 
customs,  and  the  prevalence  of  disease,  so  with  drink 
— the  *  good  old  times  '  of  which  we  hear  so  much 
were  disfigured  by  a  condition  of  things  which  would 
be  intolerable  in  the  present  day.  In  what  follows 
I  shall  try  to  make  good  these  observations  by 
putting  together  some  of  the  more  interesting  facts 
recorded  in  the  past.  For  that  purpose  I  have 
drawn  freely  on  various  authors  and  particularly  on 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  16 

Valpy  French  and  Lecky.  So  few  people,  however, 
appear  to  be  acquainted  with  those  writers  that  I 
make  no  apology  for  reproducing  a  good  deal  of 
matter  from  their  pages,  together  with  some  of 
my  own. 

We  do  not  know  much  about  the  ancient  Britons, 
but  it  is  recorded  that  they  used  three  kinds  of  in- 
toxicating liquor — mead  or  metheglin  made  from 
honey,  beer  made  from  barley,  and  cider;  and, 
however  sober  they  may  have  been  in  ordinary  life, 
they  could  on  occasions  get  drunk  and  disorderly 
with  anybody.  The  occasions  were  mostly  religious 
festivals,  and  it  is  worth  noting  that  ever  since,  up 
to  the  present  day,  religious  ceremonies  have  always 
been  observed  by  the  common  people  as  their  chief 
opportunities  for  drunkenness.  Weddings,  christen- 
ings, and,  above  all,  funerals  are  celebrated  in  this 
way,  which  explains  the  true  object  of  burial  clubs. 
The  line  *  We  drew  his  club  money  this  morning  ' 
in  a  recent  comic  song  has  an  inner  meaning  which 
might  escape  the  uninitiated.  But  that  is  a  digres- 
sion. The  Romans,  who  appreciated  strong  drink,  like 
all  conquering  races,  introduced  wine  and  viticulture, 
but  under  the  Saxons  mead  and  beer  were  still  the 
chief  liquors.  These  heroes  brought  with  them  the 
custom  of  pledging  healths,  which  continued  through 
succeeding  centuries  until  a  comparatively  recent 
period,  and  has  been  repeatedly  blamed  by  different 
observers  at  various  times  as  a  great  cause  of  in- 
temperance in  the  higher  ranks  of  society.  Probably 
with  justice.     If  not  the  cause,  it  is  certainly  the 


16        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

occasion  of  dnmkeimess.  Its  abandonment  by  Eng- 
lish society,  save  in  a  ceremonious  sense,  during  the 
nineteenth  century  has  coincided  with  a  notable  im- 
provement, while  in  other  countries  where  it  is  still 
practised — Scandinavia  and  Hungary — orgies  were 
common  only  the  day  before  yesterday,  and  are  not 
unknown  to-day.  Among  the  more  sober  nations  of 
Europe,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  never  obtained. 

The  Saxons  were  mighty  eaters  and  drinkers. 
The  mead-horn  plays  a  great  part  in  the  very  earliest 
literature,  and  already  in  the  sixth  century  the 
temperance  movement  definitely  began.  Members  of 
the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society  will  be 
glad  to  know  that  it  began  with  the  Church,  but 
that,  unfortunately,  was  because  the  Church  required 
it.  St.  Gildas  the  Wise  (a.d.  570),  observing  with 
pain  that  not  only  the  laity  but  also  the  clergy  were 
scandalously  given  to  habits  of  intoxication,  issued 
some  rules  to  his  monks,  and  ordained  that  '  if 
any  one,  through  drinking  too  freely,  gets  thick  of 
speech  so  that  he  cannot  join  in  the  psalmody,  he  is 
to  be  deprived  of  his  supper.'  This  does  not  err  on 
the  side  of  severity,  and  the  test  is  charmingly  naive, 
but  at  any  rate  the  blame  was  laid  on  the  culprit. 
St.  David  (a.d.  569)  took  a  more  modern  view  and 
punished  the  publican  in  addition,  so  to  speak.  His 
monks  were  also  accustomed  to  go  about  and  get 
drunk  in  a  friendly  way,  so  he  ordained  among  other 
rules  that  *  he  that  forces  another  to  get  drunk  out 
of  hospitality  must  do  penance  as  if  he  had  got  drunk 
himself.'     However,   things  seem  to  have  gone  on 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  17 

much  the  same  until  we  come  to  King  Edgar,  who, 
at  the  instance  of  Dunstan,  made  the  first  attempt  at 
sobriety  by  Act  of  Parliament — if  the  anachronism 
may  be  allowed — as  near  as  may  be  1,000  years  ago. 
He  suppressed  a  great  number  of  ale-houses,  and,  in 
order  to  lessen  the  depth  of  his  subjects'  potations, 
invented  *  drinking  to  pegs,'  which  would  be  equiva- 
lent to  regulating  the  size  of  the  tumbler.  People 
used  to  drink  then  out  of  wooden  pots  holding  half 
a  gallon,  and  the  King  had  eight  pegs  or  pins 
inserted,  dividing  the  pot  into  so  many  doses  of  half 
a  pint,  like  a  medicine  bottle.  But  alas  for  human 
attempts  to  circumvent  the  demon  of  drink !  Drink- 
ing to  pegs  presently  became  a  merry  pastime,  and 
a  means  of  encouraging  intoxication,  like  '  buzzing  ' 
in  the  nineteenth  century;  and  at  no  distant  date 
Anselm  had  to  forbid  his  clergy  expressly  to  '  go  to 
drinking-bouts  and  drink  to  pegs.'  Meanwhile  the 
Danes  had  come  upon  the  scene  and  made  things 
worse,  as  they  were  still  more  valiant  potmen  than  the 
Saxons  and  more  given  to  toasts.  *  Waes  hael  '  and 
*  drinc  hael  ' — if  that  is  right — went  more  merrily 
than  ever.  The  Normans  are  credited  with  having 
introduced  some  refinement,  but,  like  other  con- 
querors, they  went  down  in  their  turn  before  the 
conquered.  William  of  Malmesbury  (a.d.  1130) 
remarks  that  *  the  Saxon  nobility  passed  entire  nights 
and  days  in  drinking,  and  consumed  their  whole 
substance  in  mean  and  despicable  houses  ';  and  he 
adds  that  they  imparted  the  qualities  of  over-eating 
and  over-drinking  to  their  conquerors.    At  this  time 


18        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

the  fame  of  English  beer  and  its  effects  had  travelled 
far,  for  Innocent  II.,  who  became  Pope  in  1130, 
passed  some  sarcastic  comments  on  our  national 
habits. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  we  come  across  early 
closing.  It  was  not  enforced  directly  in  the  interests 
of  temperance,  but  because  of  the  increase  of  crime 
fostered  by  public-houses  in  London.  By  the 
Statuta  Civitatis  London.,  passed  in  1285,  taverns 
were  forbidden  to  remain  open  after  curfew  in  the 
metropolis.  But  in  spite  of  legislative  interference 
they  continued  to  increase  and  multiply,  and  in  1330 
complaints  were  made  of  *  the  great  number  of 
taverns  set  up  in  back  lanes,  corners,  and  suspicious 
places.'  So  things  went  on  for  150  years,  until  in 
1495  power  was  given  to  the  justices  to  suppress 
and  control  ale-houses.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 
the  first  attempt  was  made  to  control  the  evil  by 
means  of  licensing.  *  For  as  much  as  intolerable 
hurts  and  troubles  to  the  commonwealth  of  this 
realm  doth  daily  grow  and  increase  through  such 
abuses  and  disorders  as  are  had  and  used  in  common 
ale-houses  and  other  places  called  tippling  houses,* 
Acts  were  passed  in  1551,  1552,  giving  further  power 
to  the  magistrates  over  them,  and  providing  that  all 
such  places  should  be  licensed.  Once  started  in  this 
direction,  the  authorities  were  compelled  to  return 
again  and  again  to  the  Sisyphean  task,  and  thence- 
forward the  road  is  strewn  with  innumerable 
legislative  failures.  The  first  Acts  of  Edward  VI. 
being  found  inadequate,  more  were  passed  in  the 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  19 

following  year,  but  thirty  years  later  Camden  found 
things  as  bad  as  ever,  or,  as  he  thought,  worse. 
Like  other  moralists  in  every  period,  he  believed 
his  own  times  to  be  disgraced  by  something  un- 
known before.  He  maintained  that  drunkenness 
was  still  a  recent  vice  in  his  day  (1581),  that  there 
had  been  a  time  when  the  English  were  '  of  all  the 
northern  nations  the  most  commended  for  their 
sobriety, '  and  that  *  they  first  learnt  in  their  wars  in 
the  Netherlands  to  drown  themselves  with  im- 
moderate drinking.'  The  times  to  which  he  alluded 
must  have  been  those  of  Boadicea.  He  ought  to 
have  known  better,  for  there  was  no  concealment 
about  it  in  the  previous  century.  As  Dr.  Valpy 
French  says,  *  the  consumption  of  strong  drink  at 
public  entertainments  was  something  prodigious  in 
the  fifteenth  century.  At  the  banquet  upon  the  occa- 
sion of  the  installation  of  George  Neville,  Archbishop 
of  York,  in  1464,  no  less  than  300  tuns  of  ale  and 
100  tuns  of  wine  were  consumed.'  He  further  quotes 
an  old  writer  on  the  practice  of  the  common  people 
at  weddings:  *  When  they  come  home  from  church 
then  beginneth  excess  of  eatyng  and  drjoiking  and 
as  much  is  waist^d  in  one  daye  as  were  sufficient  for 
the  two  newe-married  folkes  halfe  a  year  to  lyve  on.* 
To  do  Camden  justice,  however,  they  seem  to  have 
been  pretty  bad  in  his  day.  Of  that  we  have  abun- 
dant evidence.  Stephen  Perlin,  a  French  physician 
who  was  in  England  about  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  's 
death,  wrote:  '  The  English,  one  with  another, 
are  joyous  and  are  very  fond  of  music;  they  are 


20        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

also  great  drinkers.'  The  Rev.  William  Kethe 
preached  about  Sunday  in  1570 — '  which  holy  day 
the  multitudes  call  their  revelyng  day,  which  day 
is  spent  in  bul-beatings,  beare-beatings,  bowlings, 
dicjTQg,  cardyng,  daunsynges,  drunkenness,  and 
whoredome.'  Philip  Stubbes  (1583)  wrote  that  the 
public-houses  were  *  crowded  from  morning  till 
night  with  inveterate  drunkards.  *  Bacon  saw  enough 
to  convince  him  that  '  all  the  crimes  on  the  earth  do 
not  destroy  so  many  of  the  human  race  nor  alienate 
so  much  property  as  drunkenness.'  The  testimony 
of  Shakespeare  (particularly  lago)  and  of  the  other 
dramatists  of  the  period  is  too  familiar  to  need  quota- 
tion. At  this  period  the  upper  classes  drank  wine 
and  the  lower  still  stuck  to  beer,  but  spirits,  the  in- 
vention of  which  dates  from  the  earlier  Plantagenet 
days,  were  beginning  to  be  known.  Geneva,  or  gin, 
was  brought  home  from  the  Netherlands,  and  Irish 
settlers  introduced  the  distillation  of  usquebaugh. 

In  1603  James  I.  again  invoked  the  aid  of  legis- 
lation by  an  Act  to  restrain  the  inordinate  haunting 
and  tippling  in  inns,  ale-houses,  and  other  victualling 
houses.  It  was  declared  that  the  *  ancient,  true, 
and  principal  use  of  inns,  ale-houses,  and  victualling 
houses  was  for  the  receipt,  relief,  and  lodging  of 
wayfaring  people  travelling  from  place  to  place,' 
and  that  they  were  *  not  meant  for  entertainment 
and  harbouring  of  lewd  and  idle  people  to  spend  and 
consume  their  money  and  their  time  in  lewd  and 
drunken  manner,'  albeit  that  was  the  identical  use 
to  which  they  had  been  put  from  time  immemorial. 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  21 

Innkeepers  permitting  unlawful  drunkenness  were 
fined  105.  This  met  with  such  gratifying  success 
that  only  four  years  later  it  was  found  necessary  to 
pass  another  Act  for  *  the  better  suppressing  of  ale- 
houses, whereof  the  multitudes  and  abuses  have  been 
and  are  found  intolerable,  and  still  do  and  are  like  to 
increaise. '  Also  for  *  repressing  the  odious  and  loath- 
some sin  of  drunkenness,'  which,  it  was  mistakenly 
thought,  had  *  of  late  grown  into  common  use  within 
this  realm,  being  the  root  and  foundation  of  many 
other  enormous  sins,  as  bloodshed,  stabbing,  murder, 
swearing,  fornication,  adultery  a'nd  suchlike,  to  the 
great  dishonour  of  God  and  of  our  nation,  the  over- 
throw of  many  good  arts  and  manual  trades,  the 
disabling  of  divers  workmen,  and  the  general  im- 
poverishing of  many  good  subjects,  abusively  wasting 
the  good  creatures  of  God.'  Drunkards  were  fined 
55.  for  each  conviction.  No  improvement  followed, 
and  in  1610  more  Acts  were  passed.  Innkeepers 
breaking  the  law  had  their  license  suspended  for 
three  years.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  Charles  I. 
was  presently  compelled  to  try  again  with  yet  an- 
other Act  *  for  the  further  restraint  of  tippling  in 
inns  and  ale-houses  ' ;  but  severity  appears  to  have 
led  to  illicit  trade,  for  we  find  that  in  1627  a  penalty 
of  205.  or  a  whipping  was  imposed  for  keeping 
an  ale-house  without  license.  Some  interesting 
evidence  of  the  state  of  things-  about  this  time  is 
forthcoming.  Burton  wrote  in  1621 :  *  What  im- 
moderate drinking  in  every  place!  How  they 
flock  to  the  tavern!     'Tis  now  the  fashion  of  our 


22        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

times,  an  honour.  'Tis  now  come  to  that  pass  that  he 
is  no  gentleman,  a  very  milksop,  a  clown,  of  no  bring- 
ing up,  that  will  not  drink.  'Tis  now  no  fault,  there 
be  so  many  brave  examples  to  bear  one  out:  the  sole 
contention,  who  can  drink  most  and  fox  his  fellow 
soonest.  'Tis  the  summum  honum  of  our  tradesmen, 
their  felicity,  life  and  soule,  their  chiefe  comfort,  to 
be  merry  together  in  an  ale-house  or  tavern;  they 
will  labour  hard  all  day  long,  to  be  drunk  at  night, 
and  spend  totius  anni  labor es  in  a  tippling  feast.' 
Another  writer  in  the  year  1627  says:  *  The  taverns, 
ale-houses,  and  the  very  streets  are  so  full  of 
drunkards  in  all  parts  of  this  kingdom,  that  by  the 
sight  of  them  it  is  better  known  what  this  detestable 
and  odious  vice  is,  than  by  any  definition  whatsoever.  * 
Decker  observes  that  in  1632  *  a  whole  street  was 
in  some  places  but  a  continuous  ale-house,  not  a 
shop  to  be  seen  between  red  lattice  and  red  lattice.' 
According  to  Bishop  Earle,  the  public-house  was 
the  common  rendezvous  for  all  classes.  The  clergy 
took  their  share  with  the  rest,  and  in  1641  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  scandal. 
From  some  curious  extracts  quoted  by  Dr.  French 
from  the  Darlington  parochial  registers  it  appears 
that  when  a  strange  clergyman  came  to  preach  he 
was  always  provided  with  quarts  of  sack  or  bottles 
of  brandy  for  the  occasion. 

The  Puritans  effected  no  improvement,  if,  in- 
deed, they  were  not  just  as  bad  themselves.  Pepys 
observes  of  General  Monk's  troops  in  1659:  *  The 
city  is  very  open-handed  to  the  soldiers;  they  are 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  23 

most  of  them  drunk  all  day.*  And  a  letter  to  a 
French  nobleman  about  this  time  (*  Harleian  Mis- 
cellfiny ')  says:  'There  is  within  this  city,  and 
in  all  the  towns  of  England  which  I  have  passed 
through,  so  prodigious  a  number  of  houses  where 
they  sell  a  certain  drink  called  ale,  that  I  think  a 
good  half  of  the  inhabitants  may  be  denominated 
ale-house  keepers.  These  are  a  meaner  sort  of 
cabarets,  .  .  .  There  the  gentlemen  sit  and  spend 
much  of  their  time  drinking.  .  .  .  Your  lordship  will 
not  believe  me  that  the  ladies  of  greatest  quality  suffer 
themselves  to  be  treated  in  one  of  these  taverns 
where  a  courtezan  in  other  cities  would  scarcely 
vouchsafe  to  be  entertained.*  A  fervid  gentleman 
of  the  name  of  Reeves  wrote  a  tract  called  *  A  Plea 
for  Nineveh  '  in  1657,  in  which  a  terrific  onslaught 
was  made  on  the  prevalent  vices  of  over-eating  and 
over-drinking.  The  latter,  he  said,  had  spread  to 
women  (bearing  out  the  foregoing  letter)  :  *  Neither 
the  bashfulness  nor  modesty  of  women  can  restrain 
them  from  participating  in  the  guilt.  .  .  .  We 
amongst  ourselves  may  find  a  multitude  of  these  in- 
temperate sottish  women  who  will  quaff  with  the 
most  riotous,  and  give  pledge  for  pledge  and  take  off 
cup  for  cup.*  With  the  Restoration,  of  course,  the 
bowl  flowed  with  renewed  vigour,  and  measures  had 
to  be  taken  to  check  adulteration,  which  is  innocently 
believed  by  ninety-nine  people  in  a  hundred  to  be  a 
modern  invention.  Penalties  of  lOOL  were  imposed 
on  merchants  and  40Z.  on  retailers.  Up  to  this  time, 
and  nearly  till  the  close  of  the  century,  wine  and 


24        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

beer  remained  the  universal  liquors.  According  to 
Mr.  Lecky,  from  whom  I  derive  many  of  the  facts 
about  the  eighteenth  century,  the  amount  of  beer 
brewed  in  1688  was  12,400,000  barrels  for  a  popula- 
tion a  little  over  5,000,000,  which  gives  an  average 
consumption  of  about  ninety  gallons  a  head  (the 
present  amount  is  about  thirty  gallons).  British 
distilleries  up  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution  were 
quite  inconsiderable,  and  French  brandy  too  dear  to 
be  within  the  reach  of  the  poor.  The  Government 
of  the  Revolution,  however,  in  its  wisdom,  took  a 
step  fraught  with  disastrous  consequences.  In  order 
to  encourage  native  industries  or  to  spite  the  French, 
it  absolutely  prohibited  the  importation  of  spirits, 
and  threw  open  the  trade  of  distilling,  on  the  payment 
of  comparatively  trifling  duties,  to  all  its  subjects. 
The  English  manufacture  of  spirits  spread  rapidly, 
and  the  people  gradually  acquired  a  passion  for  gin. 
The  amount  of  spirits  produced  in  1684  was  527,000 
gallons ;  in  1714  it  had  risen  to  2,000,000,  in  1735  to 
5,394,000,  and  in  1742  to  7,160,000  gallons.  The 
habits  of  the  working  classes  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century  are  described  in  strangely  familiar  terms  in 
Defoe's  tract  on  *  Giving  Alms  no  Charity  '  (1704). 
*  There  is  nothing  more  frequent  than  for  an  English- 
man to  work  till  he  has  got  his  pockets  full  of  money 
and  then  go  and  be  idle,  or  perhaps  drink  till  it  is  all 
gone;  and  ask  him  in  his  cups  what  he  intends,  he'll 
tell  you  honestly  he  will  drink  as  long  as  it  lasts  and 
then  go  to  work  for  more.'  A  writer  in  *  The  British 
Merchant  '  of  the  same  period,  contrasting  English 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  25 

habits  with  French  frugality,  remarks :  '  It  is  well 
known  that  our  people  spend  half  of  their  money 
upon  drink.'  So  also  the  Rev.  John  Disney,  J.P. 
(1729)  :  *  Labouring  men  very  often  consume  there 
(in  the  ale-house)  on  the  Lord's  day  what  they  have 
gotten  all  the  week  before  and  let  their  families  beg 
or  steal  for  a  subsistence  the  week  following.'  Gin- 
drinking  seems  to  have  got  fairly  hold  of  London  by 
1725,  when  a  committee  of  Middlesex  magistrates 
stated  that  there  were  in  the  metropolis,  exclusive 
of  the  City  of  London  and  Southwark,  6,187  houses 
and  shops  wherein  *  geneva  or  other  strong  waters  ' 
were  sold  by  retail.  The  population  was  then  about 
700,000.  In  some  cases  every  seventh  house  was 
employed  in  the  sale  of  intoxicants  (Dr.  French). 
The  Grand  Jury  of  Middlesex  declared  once  more 
that  much  the  greater  part  of  the  poverty,  the 
murders,  the  robberies  of  London  might  be  traced 
to  this  single  cause.  To  judge  from  Hogarth's 
appalling  representation  of  Gin  Lane,  women  were 
the  most  given  to  spirit-drinking,  which  is  entirely 
in  accordance  with  modern  experience.  In  1728  an 
attempt  was  made  to  check  the  spirit  traffic,  by 
licensing  and  higher  duties ;  but  the  Act  was  evaded, 
did  more  harm  than  good  by  causing  illicit  trade,  and 
was  repealed  four  years  later.  In  1736,  the  Middle- 
sex magistrates  presented  a  petition  to  Parliament 
declaring  *  that  the  drinking  of  geneva  and  other  dis- 
tilled waters  had  for  some  years  past  greatly  in- 
creased; that  the  constant  and  excessive  use  thereof 
had  destroyed  thousands  of  his  Majesty's  subjects; 


26         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

that  great  numbers  of  others  were  by  its  use  rendered 
unfit  for  useful  labour,  debauched  in  morals,  and 
drawn  into  all  manner  of  vice  and  wickedness,'  &c. 
Thereupon  came  the  famous  Gin  Act  of  1736.  Legis- 
lators, in  their  simplicity,  thought  that  as  the  evil 
arose  because  gin  had  been  made  easy  of  access,  it 
could  be  abolished  by  making  gin  difficult  of  access. 
So  they  clapped  on  a  duty  of  205.  in  the  gallon  and 
fixed  the  retail  license  at  501.  per  annum.  No  half- 
measures,  observe,  but  prohibition  in  all  but  name, 
The  first  result  was  an  apparent  decrease  of  consump- 
tion, but  that  lasted  a  very  short  time,  and  it  soon 
became  clear  that  the  Act  was  much  worse  than  a 
failure.  Illicit  trade  sprang  up,  and  greatly  aug- 
mented the  evil.  Although  12,000  persons  were  pun- 
ished for  infringing  the  law  in  two  years,  it  flourished 
notwithstanding  beyond  all  power  of  control.  Dis- 
tillers took  out  wine-licenses  and  sold  a  concoction 
of  gin,  sugar,  and  spice  as  wine,  just  as  they  do 
to-day  in  Norway  and  Sweden.  Druggists  put  up 
gin  in  physic-bottles  and  called  it  *  cholick  water  *  or 
*  gripe  water,  *  with  the  direction,  *  Take  two  or  three 
spoonfuls  of  this  four  or  five  times  a  day,  or  as  often 
as  the  fit  takes  you.'  Gin  was  openly  sold  in  the 
taverns  under  fancy  names.  In  short,  the  repressive 
Act  gave  a  great  stimulus  to  the  traffic.  The  con- 
sumption in  England  and  Wales  rose  from  11,000,000 
gallons  in  1733  to  nearly  20,000,000  in  1742,  and  there 
is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  a  most  shocking  state 
of  things  prevailed.  From  all  accounts  the  condition 
of  the  people  must  have  been  just  like  that  of  the 


DRINK  m  THE  PAST  27 

Swedes  and  Norwegians  down  to  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century.    They  were  sodden  in  spirits. 

*  Such  a  shameful  degree  of  profligacy  prevailed/ 
says  the  contemporary  historian,^  *  that  the  retailers 
of  this  poisonous  compound  (gin)  set  up  painted 
boards  in  public  inviting  people  to  be  drunk  for  the 
small  expense  of  one  penny,  assuring  them  they 
might  be  dead  drunk  for  2d.  and  have  straw  for  noth- 
ing; they  accordingly  provided  cellars  and  places 
strewed  with  straw,  to  which  they  conveyed  those 
wretches  who  were  overwhelmed  with  intoxication :  in 
these  dismal  caverns  they  lay  until  they  had  recov- 
ered some  use  of  their  faculties,  and  then  they  had 
recourse  to  the  same  mischievous  potion/ 

Lord  Lonsdale,  speaking  in  the  House  of  Lords 
in  1743,  made  these  remarks: 

*  In  every  part  of  this  great  metropolis  whoever 
shall  pass  along  the  streets  will  find  wretchedness 
stretched  upon  the  pavement,  insensible  and  motion- 
less, and  only  removed  by  the  charity  of  passengers 
from  the  danger  of  being  crushed  by  carriages  or 
trampled  by  horses  or  strangled  with  filth  in  the 
common  sewers.  .  .  .  No  man  can  pass  a  single  hour 
in  public  places  without  meeting  such  objects  or 
hearing  such  expressions  as  disgrace  human  nature — 
such  as  cannot  be  looked  upon  without  horror  or  heard 
without  indignation.  .  .  .  These  liquors  not  only  in- 
fatuate the  mind  but  poison  the  body;  they  not 
only  fill  our  streets  with  madness  and  our  prisons 
with  criminals,  but  our  hospitals  with  cripples.  .  .  . 
Those  women  who  riot  in  this  poisonous  debauchery- 
are  quickly  disabled  from  bearing  children,  or  pro- 
duce children  diseased  from  their  birth.' 

^  Smollett,  Eist.   of  England,  ch.   xviii. 


28         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

The  *  History  of  London  '  by  William  Maitland, 
F.R.S.,  published  about  this  time,  gives  us  some 
precise  data  which  are  of  great  value,  because  the 
author  was  a  scientific  man,  a  careful  and  dis- 
passionate observer,  and  a  contemporary.  There 
were,  he  says,  at  that  time  in  London  95,968  houses, 
of  which  15,288  sold  drink  for  consumption  on  the 
premises.  These  numbers  were  ascertained  by  actual 
survey,  so  that  there  can  be  no  possibility  of  doubt 
about  them.  The  population  was  reckoned,  by  an 
extremely  careful  computation  of  the  Bills  of 
Mortality,  at  725,903,  which  is  clearly  not  far  wrong 
because  it  agrees  with  the  number  of  houses. 
There  was,  therefore,  one  pothouse  to  every  six 
houses  and  to  every  forty-seven  persons.  At  the 
census  in  1896  the  proportion  was  one  to  every 
seventy-seven  houses  and  to  every  585  persons.  If 
all  licenses,  both  for  *  on  '  and  *  off  *  consumption,  be 
included,  the  proportion  was  only  one  to  424  persons. 
Public-houses  were,  therefore,  about  twelve  times 
more  numerous  in  proportion  to  the  population  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  than  they  are  now.  And 
it  is  interesting  to  note  their  character.  Of  the 
whole  number  8,659  were  *  brandy-shops,'  5,975  were 
ale-houses,  and  only  654  inns  and  taverns.  This 
disposes  of  the  cherished  fallacy  that  before  our 
own  degenerate  times  public-houses  were  places  of 
refreshment  for  man  and  beast,  not  mere  bars.  On 
the  contrary,  more  than  half  the  whole  number — 
namely,  the  8,659  brandy-shops — were  nothing  but 
spirit   bars,  and   5,975   more  were  mere   pothouses. 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  29 

Further,  the  spirit  bars  were  crowded  together  in 
a  comparatively  small  area  eastward  of  the  City 
and  on  the  Surrey  side  of  the  river.  In  the  City 
and  the  West-end  they  were  comparatively  few. 
The  *  congested  '  areas  in  those  days  must  have  been 
congested  indeed.  In  some  of  them  one  third  or 
one  half  the  houses  must  have  been  devoted  to  drink. 
The  worst  districts  in  London  to-day  sink  into 
insignificance  beside  this.  We  may  wonder  how  so 
many  publicans  managed  to  exist.  It  is  explained 
by  the  consumption,  which  was  prodigious.  The 
quantity  consumed  in  London  in  a  year  was: — Beer, 
70,955,604  gaUons;  spirits,  11,205,627  gallons; 
wine,  30,040  tuns.  Leaving  out  wine,  we  get  an 
annual  consumption  per  head  of — Beer,  90  gallons; 
spirits,  14  gallons.  At  present  the  quantities  are 
about  30  gallons  of  beer  and  1  gallon  of  spirits. 
The  effects  of  such  indulgence  were  in  keeping  with 
the  figures. 

*  The  excessive  drinking  of  spirituous  liquors, '  says 
Mr.  Maitland,  '  has  so  enervated  the  stomachs  of  the 
populace  as  to  render  them  incapable  of  performing 
the  offices  of  digestion,  whereby  the  appetite  is  so 
much  depraved  that  its  inclination  to  food  is  much 
lessened  and  the  consumption  of  provisions  greatly 
diminished;  which  has  occasioned  victuals,  instead 
of  rising,  to  fall  in  price  very  considerably,  to  the 
no  small  loss  of  the  landed  interest.' 

The  cry  was  so  loud  against  the  Gin  Act  as  the 
cause  of  illicit  trade  that  the  Legislature  executed 
another   manoeuvre    in    the    game    of    see-saw,    and 


30         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

practically  threw  the  trade  open  by  reducing  the 
duty  from  205.  to  Id.  and  the  license  from  50Z.  to  11. 
Now  it  is  the  turn  of  the  individualist,  who  would 
throw  the  trade  open  to-day,  to  mark  the  result. 
Did  it  do  any  good?  Not  the  least.  In  1749  the 
number  of  private  gin-shops  within  the  Bills  of 
Mortality   were    computed    at    17,000    according   to 

*  The  Gentleman's  Magazine,*  and  crime  and  im- 
morality  of  every  kind  were   still  increasing.     In 

1750,  London  physicians  stated  that  there  were  in 
or  about  the  metropolis  14,000  cases  of  illness,  most 
of  them  beyond  the  reach  of  medicine  (true  enough, 
no  doubt),  directly  attributable  to  gin.    Fielding,  in 

1751,  declared  that  gin  was  *  the  principal  sustenance 
(if  it  may  so  be  called)  of  more  than  100,000  persons 
within  the  metropolis,'  while  Bishop  Benson  accused 
'  those  accursed  spirituous  liquors,  which  are  so  easy 
to  be  had,  and  in  such  quantities  drunk,'  of  having 

*  changed  the  very  nature  of  our  people;  and  they 
will,  if  continued  to  be  drunk,  destroy  the  very  race 
of  people  themselves.'  But  more  eloquent  than  any 
denunciations  is  the  following  episode,  baldly  related 
in  *  The  Gentleman's  Magazine  '  for  1748.  It  indi- 
cates a  state  of  public  opinion  which  ig  to  us  almost 
incredible,  and  marks  the  prodigious  gulf  between 
our  own  times  and  the  eighteenth  century : 

*  At  a  christening  in  Beddington,  in  Surrey,  the 
nurse  was  so  intoxicated  that  after  she  had  undressed 
the  child,  instead  of  laying  it  in  the  cradle,  she  put 
it  behind  a  large  fire,  which  burnt  it  to  death  in  a 
few  minutes.    She  was  examined  before  a  magistrate 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  81 

and  said  she  was  quite  stupid  aud  senseless,  so  that 
she  took  the  child  for  a  log  of  wood;  on  which  she 
was  discharged.' 

The  clamour  now  was  that  *  the  great  increase 
in  the  number  of  gin-shops  and  the  low  price  of  the 
article  were  the  cause  of  its  excessive  use  amongst 
the  lower  orders,*  so  the  Legislature  was  forced  to 
turn  to  the  weary  task  once  more,  and  passed  fresh 
Acts  in  1751.  Distillers  were  forbidden  to  retail 
themselves  or  to  sell  to  unlicensed  publicans,  and 
tippling  debts  could  not  be  recovered  at  law.  These 
measures  had  a  *  real  and  very  considerable  effect,' 
says  Mr.  Lecky;  and  two  years  later  they  were 
reinforced  by  further  regulations  about  licensing 
and  the  conduct  of  public-houses,  which,  *  though 
much  less  ambitious  than  the  Act  of  1736,  were  far 
more  efiScacious.'  In  short,  reasonable  legislation 
proved  to  be  of  some  use  where  severity  and  laxity 
had  both  done  nothing  but  harm.  Gin-drinking 
began  to  fall  off  again  in  favour  of  beer,  to  the  moral 
and  physical  advantage  of  the  people,  precisely  in 
accordance  with  modern  experience  in  Scandinavia. 
The  whole  story  is  exceedingly  instructive,  both  as 
a  lesson  in  unwise  legislation  and  as  illustrating  the 
difference  between  different  kinds  of  intoxicants. 
Writers  on  the  subject  generally  class  them  all 
together  under  the  comprehensive  term  of  *  alcohol,' 
but  there  is  an  immense  difference  in  their  effects. 
Spirits,  and  spirits  alone,  produce  the  absolute  ruin 
of  body  and  mind  which  makes  the  true  dipsomaniac. 
And  even  among  spirits  some  are  more  injurious 


32         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

than  others.  Gin  and  brandy  produce  certain 
definite  diseases  of  the  body  of  which  whisky  and 
rum  are  innocent.  There  is,  therefore,  genuine 
truth  at  the  bottom  of  the  ribald  old  song : 

*  Brandy  and  gin  blows  out  the  skin 

And  makes  you  feel  very  queer: 
Then  damn  his  eyes  whoever  tries 
To  rob  a  poor  cove  of  his  beer.* 

In  spite  of  the  change  indicated,  however,  there 
was  no  progressive  improvement  in  the  habits  of 
the  people.  Nor  could  any  be  expected  when  the 
upper  classes  set  the  example  of  habitual  intem- 
perance. The  fact  is  too  familiar  to  need  any  proof 
here,  and  one  quotation  must  suffice.  Sir  Gilbert 
Elliot,  writing  to  his  wife  in  1787,  says :  *  Men  of 
all  ages  drink  abominably.  Fox  drinks  what  I 
should  call  a  great  deal,  Sheridan  excessively,  and 
Grey  (Lord  Howick)  more  than  any  of  them.  Pitt, 
I  am  told,  drinks  as  much  as  any  one.  *  In  fact,  all 
through  the  eighteenth  century  leading  statesmen, 
men  of  letters,  judges,  divines,  and  other  persons  of 
high  position  habitually  drank  to  excess,  and  nobody 
thought  much  of  it.  What,  then,  was  the  use  of 
trying  to  check  the  common  people?  A  poem  by 
James  Smith,  called  the  *  Upas  Tree  in  Marylebone 
Lane,'  meaning  the  spirit  bar,  gives  one  a  brief 
glimpse  into  the  public-house  of  the  period: 

'The  house  that  surrounds  it  stands  first  in  the  row. 
Two  doors  at  right  angles  swing  open  below, 

'  And  the  children  of  misery  daily  steal  in, 
And  the  poison  they  draw  they  denominate  Oin. 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  33 

'  There  enter  the  prude  and  the  reprobate  boy, 
The  mother  of  grief  and  the  daughter  of  joy; 
The  serving-maid  slim  and  the  serving-man  stout, 
They  quickly  steal  in  and  they  slowly  reel  out.* 

Swing-doors,  bar-drinking,  female  customers,  and 
young  people  are  less  modern  features  of  the  traffic 
than  is  generally  supposed.  Indeed,  the  traffic  has 
no  modern  features,  except  its  comparative  respect- 
ability. Adulteration  abounded  to  an  extent  un- 
dreamt of  to-day.  The  *  good  old  times  *  when 
taverns  were  places  of  legitimate  refreshment,  and 
nothing  but  *  honest  home-brewed  *  was  drunk,  never 
existed.  Here  is  a  rap  for  the  brewers  from  '  The 
Gentleman's  Magazine  '  of  1762: 

*  Taxes  upon  taxes,  and  beer  sold  at  3|d.  not  worth 
fd. !  Brewers  pining  at  the  hardships  they  labour 
under,  and  rolling  away  in  their  coaches  and  six  to 
their  several  villas  to  drown  their  grief  in  burgundy 
and  champagne.' 

Towards  the  end  of  the  century,  medical  men  be- 
gan to  take  up  the  cause  of  temperance  from  the  pro- 
fessional point  of  view.  It  began,  in  1788,  with  the 
academic  thesis  of  a  certain  Dr.  Trotter,  of  Edin- 
burgh, who  took  the  effects  of  drunkenness  on  the 
human  body  for  his  theme,  and  afterwards  expanded 
it  into  a  book,  published  in  1804.  There  was  also 
fresh  legislation  from  time  to  time,  which  it  would 
be  tedious  to  particularise.  In  spite  of  all  this,  a 
Christmas  in  London  is  thus  described  by  Charles 
Knight  as  late  as  1824 : 

*  The  outdoor  aspects  of  London  enjoyment  were 


34        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

not  unobserved  by  ine.  Honestly  to  speak,  it  was 
a  dismal  spectacle.  In  every  broad  thoroughfare 
and  every  alley  there  was  drunkenness  abroad;  not 
shamefaced  drunkenness  creeping  to  its  home,  but 
rampant,  insolent,  outrageous  drunkenness.  No 
decent  woman,  even  in  broad  daylight,  could  at  the 
holiday  seasons  dare  to  walk  alone  in  the  Strand  or 
PaU  MalJ.' 

That  cannot  be  said  to-day  of  any  thoroughfare  at 
any  season. 

About  the  same  time  the  organised  temperance 
movement  was  initiated.  The  honour  belongs  to 
Ireland,  where  the  earliest  societies  ill  the  United 
Kingdom  were  established.  From  Belfast  the  move- 
ment speedily  crossed  the  Irish  Channel  to  Greenock 
and  Glasgow.  England  followed  in  1830  with 
societies  at  Leeds  and  Bradford.  Teetotalism — from 
the  Lancashire  colloquialism  for  total  (abstinence) — 
came  in  1832.  Meanwhile  the  Legislature  had  been 
busy  again  with  the  important  Acts  of  1828,  which 
are  still  the  foundation  of  the  licensing  system  in 
Great  Britain,  and  with  the  Duke  of  Wellington's 
famous  Beer-house  Act  of  1830, '  to  permit  the  general 
sale  of  beer  and  cider  by  retail  in  England.  *  Twenty 
years  later  it  was  pronounced  a  failure  by  a  Select 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  did  not  have  the  intended  effect  of 
cheeking  the  consumption  of  spirits  by  encouraging 
beer  and  cider.  The  state  of  things  which  prompted 
the  experiment  was  certainly  very  bad.  The  Middle- 
sex magistrates  once  more  took  the  initiative  and 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  35 

brought  up  the  subject  at  the  January  Sessions  in 
1830.  Sergeant  Bell  alluded  to  the  increase  of  con- 
sumption of  gin.  Sir  George  Hampson  said  that  the 
gin-shops  were  now  decorated  and  fitted  up  with  small 
private  doors,  through  which  women  of  the  middle  and 
even  above  the  middle  classes  of  society  were  not 
ashamed  to  enter  and  take  their  dram.  Sir  Richard 
Birnie  said  that  there  were  72  cases  brought  to  Bow 
Street  on  the  Monday  previous  for  absolute  and 
beastly  drunkenness,  and,  what  was  worse,  mostly 
women  who  had  been  picked  up  in  the  streets  where 
they  had  fallen  dead  drunk.  In  1834  a  Select  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons  was  appointed  to 
investigate  the  subject,  and  their  report  contains 
some  interesting  evidence.  A  Mr.  Mark  Moore  de- 
scribed what  went  on  in  a  number  of  East-end  public- 
houses.  They  had  large  rooms  at  the  back,  invisible 
from  the  street,  and  holding  from  100  to  300  persons, 
who  consisted  of  sailors,  girls  of  the  town,  and  Jew 
crimps.  There  they  drank  and  danced  all  night  *  in 
a  dreadful  state.'  He  further  had  fourteen  public- 
houses  carefully  watched  for  a  week,  and  the  number 
of  customers  that  entered  was  counted.  There  were 
142,453  men,  108,593  women,  and  18,391  children; 
total,  269,437.  This  gives  an  average  number  per 
diem  for  each  public-house  of  2,750.  The  prospect 
of  half  that  number  would  make  the  modem 
publican's  mouth  water — if  a  publican's  mouth  ever 
waters.  It  may  be  said  that  the  public-houses  were 
less  numerous  then.  Far  from  it.  They  were  nearly 
twice    as    numerous    in    proportion    to    population. 


36         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Far  more  instructive,  however,  than  any  statistics 
are  the  contemporary  descriptions  of  what  used  to 
take  place  sixty  years  ago.  Mr.  George  Wilson,  a 
grocer  of  Westminster,  gave  the  following  account 
of  a  Sunday  morning: 

*  Last  Sunday  morning  I  arose  about  seven  o'clock, 
and  looked  from  my  bedroom  at  the  gin-palace  oppo- 
site to  me.  I  saw  it  surrounded  with  customers; 
amongst  them  I  saw  two  coal-porters  with  women 
who  appeared  to  be  their  wives  and  a  little  child 
about  six  or  seven  years  old ;  these  forced  their  way 
through  the  crowd;  after  much  struggling  they  got 
to  the  bar,  and  cai|ie  out  again  in  a  short  time,  one 
of  the  women  so  intoxicated  as  to  be  unable  to  walk ; 
she  fell  flat  on  the  pavement  with  her  legs  partly  in 
the  shop  and  her  person  exposed ;  the  three  who  were 
with  her  attempted  to  raise  her,  but  they  were  so 
intoxicated  as  to  be  unable  to  perform  the  task.* 

The  crowd  offered  no  assistance,  but  merely  laughed, 
and  continued  passing  in  and  out  of  the  open  doors 
past  the  prostrate  woman,  while  the  little  child  sat 
down  and  slapped  her. 

*  During  this  time  a  woman  almost  in  a  state  of 
nudity,  with  a  fine  infant  at  her  breast,  the  only  dress 
being  its  nightshirt,  followed  by  another  child  about 
eight  years  old,  naked  except  a  nightshirt,  and  with- 
out either  shoes  or  stockings,  followed  a  wretched- 
looking  man  into  the  house.  I  saw  them  struggling 
through  the  crowd  to  get  to  the  bar;  they  all 
had  their  gin ;  the  infant  had  the  first  share  from  the 
woman's  glass;  they  came  back  to  the  outside  of  the 
door,  and  there  they  could  scarcely  stand;  the  man 
and   woman   appeared   to  quarrel;   the  little   child 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  37 

in  her  arms  cried,  and  the  wretched  woman  beat  it 
most  unmercifully;  the  other  little  naked  child  ran 
across  the  road ;  the  woman  called  to  it  to  come  back ; 
it  came  back  and  she  beat  it;  they  all  went  into  the 
shop  again,  and  had  some  more  gin  apparently  to 
pacify  the  children.' 

That  was  between  seven  and  eight  in  the  morning 
on  an  ordinary  Sunday  in  July  1834.  Later  in  the 
day  we  get  the  following  edifying  scene: 

*  Last  Sunday  morning  I  had  occasion  to  walk 
through  the  Broadway  at  a  few  minutes  before 
eleven  o'clock;  I  found  the  pavement  before  every 
gin-shop  crowded;  just  as  church  time  approached, 
the  gin-shops  sent  forth  their  multitudes,  swearing 
and  fighting  and  bawling  obscenely;  some  were 
stretched  on  the  pavement  insensibly  drunk,  while 
every  few  steps  the  footway  was  taken  up  by  drunken 
wretches  being  dragged  to  the  station-house  by  the 
police. ' 

These  circumstantial  descriptions  of  a  main  West- 
end  thoroughfare  by  an  eye-witness  whose  accuracy 
was  not  questioned  in  the  slightest  degree,  were  con- 
firmed by  an  independent  observer  from  the  other 
end  of  the  town,  Mr.  Abraham  Ellis,  a  Spitalfields 
weaver : 

*  Those  in  the  habit  of  drinking  get  so  intoxicated 
on  the  Saturday  night  that  they  lie  abed  the  best 
part  of  Sunday ;  but  a  great  many  of  them  that  can- 
not lie,  that  cannot  rest,  they  are  at  the  gin-shops  on 
Sunday  morning  between  six  and  seven  o'clock,  and 
from  that  time  until  they  shut  up  for  church  you  can 
scarcely  get  by  the  outside  of  the  door ;  the  doors  are 


38         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

continually  opening,  and  there  is  a  mob  indoors  com- 
ing in  and  out,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  count  them. 
.  .  .  About  nine  or  ten  o'clock  you  see  many  of  them 
very  much  intoxicated,  and  hallooing  and  hooting, 
and  the  women  likewise.  I  have  seen  the  women  lying 
down  drunk,  and  the  police  have  been  obliged  to 
lift  them  up  bodily  and  take  them  away.' 

There  appears  to  have  been  no  regular  or  legal 
closing-time  at  this  period,   and  publicans  used  to 
shut  up  very  much  when  they  pleased,  early  or  late, 
or  not  at  all.     On  Sunday  they  generally  closed  at 
I      eleven  o'clock  for  church  time,  when  some  turned 
their  customers  out  and  others  shut  them  in.     At 
night  there  was  often  no  closing,  and  drunken  riots 
were    common   at   three    or   four   in   the   morning. 
Hence,  probably,  the  large  number  of  police-court 
charges.      Drunkenness    seems    to    have    been    ex- 
cessively rife  among  women  and  children  everywhere. 
*  I  am  sorry  to  say,'  said  Mr.  Broughton,  a  metro- 
politan police-magistrate,  *  that  I  find  a  great  number 
of  women,  and  sometimes  decent  women,  that  it  is 
/nshocking  to  see  brought  up.'     In  reference  to  the 
/  juvenile  depravity,  he  spoke  of  the  *  vast  number  of 
/     boys,  for  we  are  obliged  to  send  them  away  in  strings 
I    to  the  van,  *  and  of  the  young  prostitutes,  from  twelve 
\  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  were  brought  up  for 
>|?eing  drunk  and  disorderly.    In  Lancashire,  drinking 
was  said  to  be  particularly  common  among  women 
and  boys  from  fourteen  to  twenty  years  of  age.    One 
/'gentleman  counted  more  women  than  men  enter  a 
ypublic-house  in  Manchester  on  a  Saturday,  and  it 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  39 

was  the  custom  to  serve  halfpennjrworths  of  gin  to 
children.  In  Scotland,  Mr.  Thomas  Roberts  said  of 
the  people  that  *  drunkenness  forms  a  part  of  their 
education  as  much  as  learning  A  B  C  at  school. 
These  drinking  schools  are  the  domestic  fireside;  the 
parent  takes  it,  and  he  gives  a  little  to  the  child ;  he 
gives  it  as  something  that  is  excellent.*  Women  of 
the  middle  classes,  he  said,  meaning  tradespeople 
and  superior  artisans,  were  in  the  habit  of  going  out 
and  taking  glasses  of  whisky  in  the  forenoon  *  by 
way  of  compliment.'  In  London  a  large  proportion 
of  the  Poor  Law  relief  was  regularly  spent  at  the 
nearest  pothouse.  According  to  an  officer  from 
Southwark,  30Z.  out  of  every  1001.  given  in  outdoor 
relief  was  spent  in  the  gin-shop  the  same  day,  and 
another  from  St.  Luke's  stated  that  *  the  reckless- 
ness of  people  in  indulgence  is  quite  frightful.  It  is 
well  known  that  a  large  proportion  of  those  who 
receive  pensions  or  outdoor  relief  from  our  parish 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  going  into  the  first 
public-house  or  gin-shop,  and  at  all  times  im- 
mediately after  money  is  given,  paupers  will  be 
found  in  the  gin-shops.'  Other  evidence  to  the  same 
effect  shows  that  the  custom  was  general.  In  some 
trades  the  men  were  compelled  to  drink  as  a  con- 
dition of  getting  work,  and  to  spend  a  regular  pro- 
portion of  their  earnings  on  drink.  This  was  the 
case  with  the  coal-whippers,  who  had  to  take  their 
engagements  from  the  publicans.  One  of  them  gave 
the  following  account  of  the  trade  practice :  *  When 
I  want  employment — me   and  the  likes   of  me,   of 


40        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

course — I  have  to  go  to  the  publican  to  get  a  job,  to 
ask  him  for  a  job;  and  he  tells  me  to  go  and  sit 
down  and  he  will  give  me  an  answer  by  and  by.  I 
go  and  sit  down,  and  if  I  have  twopence  in  my 
pocket  of  course  I  am  obliged  to  spend  it  with  a  view 
of  getting  a  job;  and  probably  when  two  or  three 
hours  have  elapsed  there  is  about  fifty  or  sixty  people 
come  on  the  same  errand  to  the  same  person  for  a 
job.  He  keeps  us  three  or  four  hours  there;  those 
that  drink  most  get  the  most  employment. '  There  was 
something  like  a  regular  tariff  amounting  to  nearly 
half  the  wages.  A  man  in  full  work  would  earn  up 
to  4s.  Id.  a  day,  of  which  he  had  to  spend  from  Is.  8d. 
to  2s.  in  the  public-house  so  long  as  the  job  lasted. 
The  working-man 's  account  of  this  iniquitous  business 
was  fully  confirmed  by  Lieutenant  Arnold,  R.N.,  and 
other  gentlemen. 

I  do  not  know  that  the  individual  capacity  for 
drinking  was  greater  in  those  days  than  it  is  now: 
probably  not,  but  there  were  certainly  some  remark- 
able topers.  Dr.  Farre  described  the  case  of  a  man 
who  used  to  drink  three  or  four  pints  of  gin  daily, 
apparently  for  many  years.  His  wife  said  she  had 
known  him  drink  seventy-two  glasses  of  the  usual 
dram  at  a  sitting  *  to  show  what  he  could  do.' 
Another  case  was  the  chairman  of  a  notorious  drink- 
ing club,  a  hearty  octogenarian,  who,  when  Dr.  Farre 
knew  him,  had  lived  a  '  reformed  '  life  for  thirty 
years  on  the  modest  allowance  of  one  pint  of  brandy 
and  six  glasses  of  madeira  per  diem.  These  *  drinking 
clubs  '  were  themselves  an  interesting  sign  of  the 


DRINK  IN  THE  PAST  41 

times,  but  they  only  concerned  the  upper  classes, 
among  whom  intemperance  was,  by  universal  con- 
sent, already  on  the  wane. 

The  conclusions  of  the  Committee  deserve  to  be 
stated  at  length  if  I  could  afford  the  space.  They 
thought  the  vice  of  intoxication,  though  declining  in 
the  upper  classes,  had  increased  in  the  lower,  and 
now  included  in  its  victims  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. As  to  the  effects,  they  '  are  so  many  and  so 
fearful  to  contetnplate  that  it  is  as  difficult  as  it  is 
painful  to  enumerate  even  the  outlines  of  them,'  to 
wit :  destruction  of  health,  disease  in  every  form  and 
shape;  premature  decrepitude  in  the  old;  stunted 
growth,  debility,  and  decay  in  the  young ;  loss  of  life 
by  paroxysms  and  accidents;  delirium  tremens; 
paralysis,  idiocy,  and  violent  death ;  item,  destruction 
of  mental  capacity  and  vigour ;  item,  irritation  of  all 
the  worst  passions  of  the  heart;  item,  extinction  of 
all  moral  and  religious  principle,  violation  of  chastity, 
insensibility  to  shame,  and  indescribable  degradation; 
item,  loss  of  productive  labour,  extensive  loss  of 
property,  inefficiency  of  army  and  navy,  injury  to 
national  reputation,  injury  to  the  British  race,  in- 
crease of  pauperism,  spread  of  crime,  retardation  of 
all  improvement.  They  reckoned  the  general  pecu- 
niary loss  on  all  these  counts,  which  I  have  abridged, 
to  be  *  little  short  of  fifty  millions  sterling  per 
annum.'  It  is  the  most  comprehensive  indictment 
ever  drawn  up.  They  recommended  a  heap  of 
immediate  measures,  which  are  recommended  as 
new  and  brilliant  ideas  to-day,  and  also  some  ulti- 


42        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

mate  ones,  including  the  absolute  prohibition  of  the 
importation  and  distillation  of  spirits  except  for  arts 
and  medicine.  They  had  evidently  not  studied  the 
proceedings  of  their  predecessors  just  a  hundred 
years  before. 

One  comforting  reflection  is  suggested  by  the  fore- 
going retrospect.  It  effectually  disposes  of  the  bogey 
of  national  destruction  by  inherited  alcoholism.  If 
there  were  much  in  it,  most  of  us  would  be  hopeless 
drunkards,  for  we  have  all  probably  had  some  drunken 
ancestors.  Far  too  much  has  been  made  of  the 
theory;  it  is  not  in  keeping  with  modern  science, 
which  negatives  the  hereditary  transmission  of  dis- 
ease, and  it  is  flatly  contradicted  by  the  facts.  I 
return  to  this  question  in  the  chapter  on  '  The  Forces 
of  Intemperance.' 

i/ 


48 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  DECLINE  OP  DRUNKENNESS 

In  the  previous  chapter  I  have  briefly  sketched  the 
history  of  drink  in  this  country  down  to  1834.  That 
year  is  chosen  for  a  pause  because  it  was  the  date  of 
the  remarkable  inquiry  alluded  to,  and  because  a  new 
era  began  to  set  in  about  that  time.  Several  circum- 
stances contributed  to  make  this  period  stand  out 
distinctly  as  a  sort  of  dividing  line  between  the  old 
and  the  new.  The  metropolitan  police  force  was  or- 
ganised and  established  on  its  present  basis  just  be- 
fore, the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria  began  shortly  after 
with  all  the  new  social  movements  and  changes — loco- 
motion, sanitation,  education,  free  trade,  and  so  on 
— that  have  been  identified  with  it,  including  the 
development  of  the  temperance  movement.  On  her 
accession  to  the  throne  her  Majesty  added  greatly  to 
its  prestige  and  influence  by  becoming  patron  of 
the  important  English  organisation  called  *  The 
British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,'  which  had 
been  founded  in  1831.  These  and  other  circumstances 
are  treated  historically  in  Chapter  V.  on  the  Forces 
of  Temperance.  They  are  only  mentioned  now  to 
explain    the    selection    of    the    1830-40    period    as 


44        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

marking  the  close  of  *  drink  in  the  past.*  The  quo- 
tations from  the  1834  inquiry  are  sufficient  evidence 
in  themselves  that,  though  the  state  of  things  was 
not  so  bad  as  it  had  been  in  the  middle  of  the  pre- 
vious century,  such  improvement  as  had  taken  place 
was  not  of  a  very  effective  character.  We  still  see 
the  people — men,  women,  and  children — sodden  with 
drink,  lost  to  all  sense  of  decency,  revelling  in  degra- 
dation, and  the  most  public  thoroughfares  given  up 
regularly  and  in  broad  daylight  to  scenes  of  disorder 
which  we  can  hardly  realise  to-day. 

I  submit,  therefore,  that  up  to  this  period  no  sub- 
stantial, progressive,  and  lasting  improvement  had 
been  effected.  That  it  has  been  effected  since  no 
candid  reader  can  deny.  It  is  not  merely  that  such 
wholesale  outrages  on  public  decency  do  not  occur 
now,  but  that  if  they  did  occur  public  opinion  among 
the  people  themselves  would  not  permit  them  to 
continue  for  a  day;  the  most  callous  would  revolt  at 
the  idea.  In  other  words,  there  has  been  a  real 
improvement,  an  organic  change,  and  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  conceive  a  complete  relapse  into  the  condition 
of  the  past.  Individual  drunkards  there  are  still,  as 
bad  as  ever,  and  at  times  they  become  more 
numerous,  mainly  when  trade  is  good  and  money 
plentiful;  but  the  open,  rampant,  daylight  drunken- 
ness-in-the-mass  which  history  records  has  become 
a  matter  of  history. 

The  improvement  has  not  been  continuous.  It 
has  been  interrupted  by  considerable  fluctuations, 
but  it  has  gone  on  through  and  in  spite  of  them. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  45 

Since  the  inquiry  of  1834  there  have  been  three  others 
on  a  similar  or  larger  scale,  at  intervals  of  twenty 
years,  and  these  give  a  fair  insight  into  the  changes 
that  have  occurred  in  the  intervening  period.  They 
were  the  inquiry  into  public-houses  by  a  Select 
Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  1854,  that 
into  intemperance  by  the  House  of  Lords  in  1876, 
and  that  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  operation 
of  the  liquor  laws  in  1896. 

In  reading  the  report  of  the  1854  inquiry,  one  is 
first  of  all  struck  by  the  absence  of  any  evidence 
approaching  that  previously  quoted.  Many  witnesses, 
including  several  temperance  agents  of  great  experi- 
ence, told  what  they  knew  of  the  evils  and  abomi- 
nations of  the  liquor  traffic,  but  what  they  had  to 
tell  is  mild  and  colourless  compared  with  the  revela- 
tions of  1834.  One  can  only  conclude  that  the 
previous  state  of  things  had  already  ceased  to  exist, 
for  if  not  they  would  have  been  ready  enough  to 
describe  it.  This  negative  testimony  is  borne  out 
by  much  positive  evidence  of  actual  improvement. 
The  number  of  police  charges  had  generally  and 
markedly  declined;  the  character  of  public-houses 
had  notably  improved  in  the  large  towns,  and  they 
were  conducted  with  much  greater  propriety.  Pub- 
licans, police,  working-men,  and  temperance  agents 
united  in  testifying  to  the  improvement  on  Sunday 
mornings.  Working-men  spoke  emphatically  of  the 
increased  sobriety  among  their  own  class.  The  Com- 
mittee itself  came  to  the  conclusion  that  *  there  are 
no    doubt   many   publicans    and   beer-shop   keepers 


46        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

who  exercise  the  utmost  vigilance  to  prevent  drunk- 
enness on  their  premises,  and  to  keep  bad  characters 
out  of  their  houses.'  They  even  had  a  good  word 
for  some  of  the  much-abused  beer-shops:  *  There  are 
highly  rated  houses  under  the  beer-shop  license  in 
London  and  other  places,  kept  by  parties  of  respect- 
able character,  conducted  with  propriety  and  even 
advantage  to  the  neighbourhood,  and  which  furnish 
a  valuable  accommodation  to  the  middle  and  work- 
ing classes.  *  Nevertheless  great  abuses  remained,  and 
the  law  was  evaded  in  many  respects.  Drinking 
was  carried  on  in  houses  only  provided  with  off- 
licenses;  gaming  was  permitted  and  adulteration 
practised.  Wages  were  still  commonly  paid  in 
public-houses,  and  the  prevalent  custom  of  paying 
*  drink-footings  '  on  admission  to  a  trade  was  the 
cause  of  much  intemperance  among  working-men. 
With  regard  to  adulteration,  which  had  been  ex- 
ceedingly bad  from  remote  times  down  to  the  earlier 
part  of  last  century,  it  is  worth  noticing  that  the 
inquiry  of  1854  succeeded  in  eliciting  very  little  posi- 
tive evidence  of  the  use  of  the  deleterious  drugs 
previously  in  vogue.  According  to  the  results  of 
chemical  analysis,  water,  sugar,  and  salt  were  the 
means  of  adulteration  generally  used  in  the  retail 
trade.  Many  of  the  abuses  of  the  traffic,  such  as 
drunkenness,  disorder,  and  gambling  on  the  premises, 
were  permitted  to  continue  merely  because  the 
police  had  no  power  of  entry  at  that  time.  It  was, 
therefore,  all  the  more  creditable  to  the  trade  that 
the  better  class  of  publican  should  have  earned  a 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  47 

good  name  for  the  respectable  conduct  of  their  busi- 
ness. On  the  whole,  it  is  clear  that  the  evils  of 
intemperance  had  diminished,  both  in  volume  and 
intensity,  and  that  a  better  tone  prevailed  generally. 

The  inquiry  held  twenty-two  years  later  is  par- 
ticularly interesting,  because  it  came  immediately 
after  a  marked  relapse,  which  was  probably  one  of 
the  reasons  why  it  was  held.  The  occurrence  of  the 
relapse  is  proved  by  a  rise  in  the  police  returns,  and 
a  simultaneous  increase  in  the  consumption  of 
liquor.  The  correspondence  between  the  two  adds 
to  their  value  as  evidence.  Its  cause  was  the  great 
improvment  in  trade  which  set  in  about  1868,  and 
lasted  in  its  effects  on  the  country  generally  down  to 
1875  or  1876.  The  police  returns  for  London  show 
that  the  arrests  for  drunkenness  in  the  metropolis  in 
proportion  to  population  rose  gradually  from  4.9  per 
1,000  in  1867  to  7.6  in  1876.  In  England  and  Wales 
the  actual  numbers  were  100,067  in  1867  and  205,567 
in  1876,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  whole 
country  was  similarly  affected.  Between  1867  and 
1875  the  consumption  of  liquor  in  the  United  King- 
dom rose,  in  beer,  from  28.1  to  34  gallons,  and  in 
spirits  and  wine  from  1.41  to  1.82  gallon  per  head. 
The  excessive  consumption,  it  is  to  be  observed,  con- 
tinued after  the  height  of  the  prosperity  had  passed, 
and  the  excess  of  drunkenness  lasted  somewhat  longer 
than  the  excessive  consumption — the  effect  of  a 
habit  established.  But  the  remarkable  thing  is  the 
comparatively  slight  effect  which  this  debauch 
produced,   and   the   rapidity  with  which   it   passed 


48        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

away,  proving,  as  it  seems  to  me,  more  clearly  than 
if  it  had  never  taken  place,  the  deep-seated  change 
which  had  come  over  the  country.  The  people 
denied  themselves  nothing  and  drank  as  much  as 
they  wished  in  1873,  1874,  and  1875,  but  the 
police  record  in  London,  which  is  a  very  reliable 
rough  barometer,  indicated  a  maximum  of  only  7.6 
per  1,000,  whereas  in  1836  it  had  been  up  to  13.6, 
and  in  1850 — another  relapse — it  had  reached  9.4. 
After  1876  the  consumption  fell  off  with  ex^treme 
rapidity,  and  in  ten  years  reached  a  general  low 
level — that  is,  comparatively  low — which  was  fairly 
maintained,  with  minor  fluctuations,  for  another 
decade.  The  police  returns  followed  the  same  course 
with  a  degree  of  general  correspondence  that  is  most 
striking;  but  I  deal  more  fully  with  the  statistics 
later  on,  and  only  refer  to  them  here  incidentally 
to  show  the  comparatively  slight  and  transient  effect 
of  the  demoralisation  that  occurred  in  the  prosperous 
seventies.  I  think  it  indicates  an  improved  tone, 
and  that  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  much  of  the 
evidence  given  before  the  Committee  in  1876.  Al- 
though it  was  admitted  that  intemperance  had 
increased  since  1868,  competent  witnesses  bore 
testimony  to  the  great  improvement  in  public  order 
and  the  conduct  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  most  of  the 
large  towns,  including  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Bir- 
mingham, Sheffield,  Newcastle,  Bristol,  Preston,  and 
Cardiff.  A  large  number  of  the  worst  class  of  beer- 
houses had  been  abolished.  Between  1870  and  1876 
they    were    reduced    by    nearly    6,000,    while    the 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  49 

population  increased  by  one  and  a  half  millions. 
The  effect  was  everywhere  recognised^  and  also  *  the 
improved  character  of  licensed  houses  generally/ 
Superintendent  Turner  said  of  the  East-end  of  Lon- 
don: *  The  majority  of  publicans,  I  honestly  believe, 
do  their  best  to  prevent  drunkenness  and  preserve 
order.  .  .  .  The  conduct  of  the  majority  of  the  pub- 
licans is  good.'  Sir  J.  Mantell,  stipendiary  magis- 
trate of  Salford  and  Manchester,  stated  that  the 
public-houses  were  *  well  conducted  on  the  whole, 
and  very  much  improved.'  The  Committee  endorsed 
these  and  similar  statements,  and  further  reported 
that,  *  as  a  rule,  the  higher  class  of  artisans  are  be- 
coming more  sober,  and  the  apprehensions  for  drunk- 
enness are  becoming  more  and  more  confined  to  the 
lowest  grades  of  the  community.'  Of  course  there 
was  a  good  deal  to  be  said  on  the  other  side,  and  I 
am  not  analysing  the  report,  but  only  quoting  it  as 
evidence  that  distinct  advance  had  been  made  even 
at  an  adverse  period. 

Passing  on  to  the  Royal  Commission  of  1896-99, 
we  find  a  very  striking  consensus  of  testimony  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  that  drunkenness  has  de- 
creased of  late  years,  and  an  equally  striking  absence 
of  evidence  to  the  contrary.  As  the  facts  on  this 
point  are  not  summarised  in  any  part  of  the  Report, 
it  is  worth  while  to  set  out  in  brief  the  statements 
of  the  more  important  witnesses. 

London. — Sir  John  Bridge,  the  senior  metropolitan 
magistrate,  and  a  gentleman  of  unique  experience, 
stated  that  there  was  *  clearly  a  decrease  of  drunk- 


50        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

enness  '  among  both  men  and  women,  but  that  the 
decrease  was  less  among  women.  He  was  corrobo- 
rated by  two  superintendents,  one  representing  an 
eastern  and  the  other  a  southern  division.  The  only 
evidence  to  the  contrary  was  that  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  notorious  Piccadilly  district,  who  reported 

*  a  slight  increase,'  which  he  attributed  to  the  preva- 
lence of  low  clubs  in  the  Soho  quarter. 

Liverpool. — The  Chief  Constable  stated  that  there 
was   *  a  very  great  decrease   of  drunkenness  '   and 

*  very  material  improvement  in  the  conduct  of  the 
licensed  houses,'  with  which  there  was  *  very  little 
fault  to  be  found.'  He  was  corroborated  by  one  of 
the  justices,  who  said  that '  the  conduct  of  the  houses 
and  the  appearance  of  the  streets  had  very  much 
improved. '  *  A  vast  improvement — public-houses  not 
now,  as  they  were,  centres  of  riot  and  dissipation  * 
(Chairman  at  meeting  of  Liverpool  Ladies'  Temper- 
ance Association). 

Manchester. — The    Chief    Constable   stated    that 

*  drunkenness  had  greatly  diminished  during  the  last 
twenty  years  '  and  that  *  the  licensed  houses  were 
well  conducted  as  a  whole.'  He  was  corroborated 
by  a  temperance  witness,  who  thought  that  *  drunk- 
enness was  steadily  decreasing  as  a  whole,'  and  that 

*  a  general  improvement  had  taken  place  in  recent 
years. ' 

Birmingham. — *  A  decrease  of  drunkenness  ' 
(Clerk  to  the  Justices,  confirmed  by  Mr.  Lawson 
Tait,  F.R.C.S.). 

Leeds. — *  A  very  great  and  marked  improvement 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  51 

in  the  sobriety  and  good  order  of  the  people 
generally*  (Clerk  to  the  Justices).  *  The  licensed 
houses  most  undoubtedly  well  conducted '  (Chief 
Constable) . 

Bradford. — *  Drunkenness  certainly  decreased  in 
proportion  to  population;  increase  in  the  good  con- 
duct of  the  houses,  which  were  generally  well  con- 
ducted '  (Clerk  to  the  Justices). 

Nottingham. — *  Tone  of  the  town  very  much  im- 
proved '  (Town  Clerk). 

Hull. — *  A  great  improvement  since  1890 ;  the 
houses  very  well  conducted  in  the  suburbs  and  fairly 
well  conducted  in  the  centre  of  the  town;  decrease 
of  drunkenness  *  (Clerk  to  the  Justices). 

Bristol. — *  Houses  well  conducted;  gradual  im- 
provement taking  place ;  great  reduction  in  the  num- 
ber of  cases  of  drunkenness  during  last  twenty  years  ' 
(Clerk  to  the  Justices). 

Newcastle. — *  Generally  speaking,  drunkenness  de- 
creasing '  (Clerk  to  the  Justices).  '  Very  consider- 
able improvement  among  sailors  *  (Chaplain  to  Sea- 
men *s  Mission). 

Plymouth. — *  Houses  generally  well  conducted; 
drunkenness  decreasing:  holders  of  licenses  very 
anxious  to  carry  out  the  suggestions  of  the  authori- 
ties '  (Chief  Constable). 

Chester. — '  Houses  well  conducted  and  cases  of 
drunkenness  diminished  '  (Chief  Constable). 

York. — *  On  the  whole  a  satisfactory  decrease  of 
drunkenness;  the  vast  majority  of  the  houses  well 
conducted  *  (Chief  Constable). 


52        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Lincoln. — *  Habits  of  the  people  improved — more 
temperate  and  more  thrifty  *  (a  Justice). 

Penzance. — *  A  decrease  of  drunkenness  '  (ex- 
Chairman  of  Watch  Committee). 

Lancashire. — *  Drunkenness  certainly  diminished  ' 
(Chief  Constable). 

Staffordshire. — '  Less  drunkenness  than  there 
used  to  be ;  statistics  show  marked  diminution ;  houses 
very  fairly  conducted;  better  than  they  were  *  (Chief 
Constable). 

Gloucestershire.^ — *  A  very  marked  improvement 
in  drunkenness  *  (Clerk  to  the  Cirencester  Jus- 
tices). 

Somersetshire. — *  I  can  remember  when  it  was 
unsafe  in  my  county  for  ladies  to  walk  about  because 
of  some  drunken  man  being  about  in  the  roads.  It 
was  quite  unsafe  in  the  country,  particularly  in  the 
cider  country.  Now  that  has  so  decreased  that  you 
never  see  a  drunken  person  about.  I  do  not  know 
that  I  have  seen  one  for  years  *'  (Justice  and  Deputy 
Lieutenant) . 

That  was  pretty  nearly  all  the  evidence  given  on 
the  point  with  regard  to  England.  It  must  not  be 
supposed  that  the  witnesses  quoted  were  of  an 
ex  parte  character  or  satisfied  with  the  existing  state 
of  things.  On  the  contrary  nearly  all  of  them  were 
anxious  to  point  out  numerous  defects  and  to  urge 
reforms.  Some  were  engaged  in  temperance  work 
and  ardent  advocates  of  drastic  legislation.  Their 
testimony  to  the  improvement  that  has  taken  place 
is,  therefore,  unimpeachable.     And  there  is  hardly 


THE  DECLINE  OP  DRUNKENNESS  53 

anything  to  place  against  it.  Two  or  three  witnesses 
thought  matters  were  stationary,  and  the  clerk  to 
the  West  Bromwich  justices  expressed  the  opinion 
that  drunkenness  was  increasing,  but  he  admitted  that 
numerically  it  was  not  and  that  the  traffic  was  well 
conducted.  The  total  absence  of  *  shocking  revela- 
tions '  is  most  striking,  and  the  admissions  made  by 
the  stoutest  champions  of  teetotalism  and  prohibition 
clinch  the  matter.  Dr.  Norman  Kerr  said:  *  I 
think  that  in  very  many  respects  intemperance  has 
greatly  decreased,  but  in  certain  details  and  in 
certain  classes  it  has  increased.'  He  explained  this 
to  mean  that  drunkenness  *  that  is  visible  in  the 
streets  '  and  among  men  generally  had  decreased,  but 
that  female  intemperance  had  increased.  I  deal  with 
this  latter  opinion,  which  was  held  by  other  witnesses, 
in  a  separate  chapter.  Even  Mr.  Whyte,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  United  Kingdom  Alliance,  was  constrained 
to  admit  that  *  open  riotous  drunkenness  was  less 
common  than  it  used  to  be,'  but  he  thought  that 
*  quiet  soaking  drinking  was  much  more  common.' 
I  think  he  is  quite  right.  Drinking  has  become 
much  more  quiet — that  is  to  say,  there  is  more  mod- 
erate and  less  excessive  drinking.  In  other  words, 
people  continue  to  drink — the  word  *  soaking  '  merely 
expresses  Mr.  Whyte 's  disapproval  of  the  practice — 
but  they  do  not  get  drunk  so  often,  which  is  precisely 
the  point. 

The  evidence  with  regard  to  Scotland,  which  is  a 
much  more  drunken  country  than  England,  is  to  much 
the  same  effect,  though  less  consistently  favourable. 


54        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Glasgow. — '  Drunkenness  decreased  considerably 
in  the  last  forty  years.  The  figures  fluctuate  greatly, 
principally  according  to  trade,  but  society  now  looks 
upon  drunkenness  as  a  disgrace,  and  that  has  a  great 
influence  on  the  people,  I  believe  more  than  anything 
I  know  *  (Chief  Constable). 

Dundee. — *  Drunkenness  decreased  steadily  from 
1844  down  to  the  present  time ;  nearly  one-half  less  ' 
(Chief  Constable  and  Procurator  Fiscal). 

Greenock. — '  A  great  diminution  of  drunken- 
ness; very  bad  yet,  undoubtedly,  but  nothing  to 
what  it  was  when  I  went  to  Greenock  '  (Chief 
Constable). 

Edinburgh. — *  No  doubt  whatever  public-houses 
have  very  materially  improved  in  character  both  in 
Edinburgh  and  Leith  during  the  last  twenty-five 
years;  very  distinct  and  decided  improvement  both 
in  respect  of  a  decrease  of  drunkenness  and  a  limita- 
tion in  the  number  of  crimes '  (Solicitor  to  the 
Supreme  Court  and  J.P.  for  Midlothian).  *  A  de- 
cided improvement  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty 
years  '  (Bailie  and  Chairman  of  Public  Health  Com- 
mittee). 

Renfrewshire.  —  '  Considerable  improvement  * 
(Chief  Constable). 

Roxburghshire  and  Berwickshire. — *  Habits  of 
the  people  in  respect  to  sobriety  greatly  improved  * 
(Chief  Constable). 

Aberdeenshire. — *  Drunkenness  on  the  whole  de- 
creased '  (Chief  Constable). 

An  exception  to  this  generally  favourable  experi- 


.    THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  55 

ence  is  furnished  by  the  town  of  Aberdeen,  in  which 
drunkenness  was  stated  by  the  Chief  Constable  to 
be  *  not  on  the  decrease  but  rather  the  reverse.*  A 
former  Dean  of  Guild  for  Aberdeen,  who  had  been 
in  the  grocery  and  wine  trade  for  fifty-seven  years, 
corroborated  that  opinion.  The  worst  feature  de- 
scribed was  an  increase  of  juvenile  intemperance. 
The  Chief  Constable  of  Dumbartonshire  thought 
drinking  was  stationary  among  both  men  and  women 
in  that  county,  but  had  improved  at  Clydebank,  one 
of  the  most  typical  industrial  townships.  A  bailie  of 
Edinburgh,  who  is  also  a  temperance  lecturer  and 
advocate  of  prohibition,  spoke  of  an  increase  of  drunk- 
enness among  boys  and  girls  under  twenty  years  of 
age,  afid  habitual  drunkards  are  undoubtedly  very 
numerous  in  Scotland ;  but  on  the  whole  the  evidence 
went  to  show  that  there  had  been  distinct  and  gen- 
eral improvement.  This  was  recognised  by  Colonel 
McHardy,  Chairman  of  the  Prison  Commissioners  of 
Scotland,  who  said  that  there  had  *  no  doubt  been 
a  general  advance  in  public  opinion  on  the  questions 
of  temperance  and  street  order.* 

The  evidence  from  Ireland  points  rather  to  a  sta- 
tionary condition  of  things,  though  several  witnesses 
spoke  of  an  improvement  in  the  larger  towns.  Sir 
A.  Reid,  Inspector  General  of  the  Eoyal  Irish  Con- 
stabulary, said  that  since  he  last  gave  evidence  in 
1888  he  considered  that  *  little  alteration  had  taken 
place  in  regard  to  the  state  of  drunkenness  in 
Ireland.'     It  *  had  not  seriously  increased,*  though 


56        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

there  was  *  room  for  improvement,'   which  no  one 
will  dispute. 

DuBLEsr. — *  Materially  improving  in  the  matter  of 
temperance  *  (Mr.  T.  C.  Harrington,  M.P.  for  Dub- 
lin). *  A  recent  recrudescence  of  drunkenness  *  (Mr. 
Swifte,  police-magistrate). 

Belfast. — '  Drunkenness  slightly  decreasing  * 
(Chief  District  Inspector  of  Constabulary). 

Londonderry. — *  A  uniform  decrease  of  Sunday 
drunkenness  since  the  Sunday  Closing  Act :  week-day 
drunkenness  decreased  25  per  cent,  in  first  five  years 
after  the  Act,  but  slightly  increased  in  1895-96-97  * 
(County  Inspector  of  Constabulary). 

Waterford. — *  Less  visible  drunkenness  than  there 
was  twenty-five  years  ago;  drunkenness  really  de- 
creased '  (Rev.  T.  F.  Furlong,  C.C.). 

Kilkenny. — '  Practically  no  change  at  all  in  the 
last  few  years  in  county  and  city;  if  any  it  would 
be  in  a  decrease  of  drunkenness  '  (Resident  Magis- 
trate). *  Condition  improving;  a  decrease  of  drunk- 
enness '  (County  Coroner). 

Cork. — *  Generally  speaking,  a  diminution  of 
drunkenness  '  (Secretary  of  Licensed  Vintners'  As- 
sociation) . 

On  the  whole  the  Irish  evidence  does  not  contra- 
dict the  general  story  of  improvement,  if  it  adds  little 
to  it. 

Now  I  submit  that,  taken  all  together,  the  fore- 
going expressions  of  opinion,  coming  as  they  do  from 
every  large  centre  of  population  in  the  kingdom,  and 
for  the  most  part  from  disinterested  or  even  unwilling 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  57 

witnesses,  and  being  traversed  by  no  testimony  to 
the  opposite  effect,  constitute  a  most  remarkable 
body  of  evidence.  They  show  that  the  improvement 
noted  by  previous  inquiries  has  been  maintained  up 
to  the  present  time,  and  that  we  are  most  certainly 
not  going  from  bad  to  worse  in  this  matter.  A 
comparison  between  the  facts  and  opinions  revealed 
in  1834  and  those  elicited  in  1896  makes  such  an 
hypothesis  quite  impossible. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  statistical  evidence,  and 
see  what  light  it  throws  upon  the  question.  There 
are  three  points  on  which  statistics  are  available: 
(1)  the  number  of  drunken  persons  dealt  with  by  the 
police;  (2)  the  number  of  licensed  premises;  (3)  tho 
consumption  of  drink. 


STATISTICS  OP  DRUNKENNESS 

On  this  head  it  is  necessary  to  say  a  word.  Police 
statistics  are  open  to  certain  objections,  of  which 
advantage  is  always  taken  by  ardent  controversialists, 
who  use  them  when  they  support,  and  decry  them 
when  they  refute,  a  pet  theory.  We  are  told  that 
police  statistics  do  not  represent  the  real  amount  of 
drunkenness.  Of  course  they  do  not;  that  has  been 
recognised  ever  since  there  have  been  police  statis- 
tics. But  they  represent  the  amount  of  drunkenness 
of  a  certain  degree,  the  degree  of  noise,  disorder,  or 
helplessness,  which  bears  a  fairly  constant  relation 
to  the  whole.  They  are  therefore  good  for  purposes 
of    broad    comparison,    if    allowance    be    made    for 


58        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

differences  in  the  law  or  in  classification  which  affect 
the  number  of  legal  offences. 

But,  it  is  said,  they  vary  indefinitely  according 
to  the  local  procedure  and  zeal  of  the  police.  The 
time-honoured  dictum  is  quoted  that  a  single  ^  turn 
of  the  screw  '  may  increase  the  numbers  tenfold.  I 
agree  that  it  may  increase  them  considerably,  though 
not  tenfold.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  turn  is 
seldom  given,  and  if  given  is  not  maintained.  I 
have  made  long  and  extensive  observations  on  this 
point  from  the  life,  and  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  in  practice  the  police  act  everywhere  in  just 
about  the  same  way,  except,  perhaps,  in  Russia, 
where  extraordinary  license  to  noisy  and  intoxicated 
persons  is  allowed.  They  act,  that  is  to  say,  as  com- 
mon sense  dictates.  Drunken  people  who  can  get 
away  home  quietly  without  giving  trouble  are  ignored, 
or  merely  watched ;  those  who  are  disorderly  or  cause 
an  obstruction  by  their  helplessness  are  taken  in 
charge.  In  short,  the  police  look  to  disorder,  which 
is  their  business.  If  there  is  any  attempt  to  go 
beyond  that  and  set  up  some  higher  criterion,  it 
never  lasts,  because  it  is  not  a  policeman's  business 
to  promote  virtue;  the  higher  procedure  is  quietly 
dropped.  On  the  other  hand,  if  laxity  below  the 
ordinary  standard  prevails,  the  public  soon  complains, 
and  things  are  tightened  up.  Under  the  same  law 
we  should  all  do  very  much  as  the  police  do,  after  a 
short  time,  if  we  were  in  their  place.  Broadly 
speaking,  therefore,  the  police  returns  are  quite 
valid  for  purposes  of  comparison,  when  and  where 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  59 

the  strength  of  the  force  in  proportion  to  population 
is  fairly  equal ;  but  of  course  they  must  be  used  with 
common  sense,  and  cannot  be  applied  to  minute 
comparisons.  It  is,  however,  unnecessary  to  labour 
the  point.  The  objection  is  little  more  than  a  trick 
of  controversy,  which  has  done  duty  so  long  as  to 
be  somewhat  threadbare. 

There  are  no  police  statistics  for  the  whole  king- 
dom, and  those  for  England  and  Wales,  which  are 
the  most  complete,  do  not  begin  until  1857.  The 
only  records  that  cover  the  whole  period  under  review 
are  those  of  the  Metropolitan  Police,  which  are  the 
more  valuable  because  we  have  precise  information 
with  regard  to  the  strength  of  the  force  and  their 
procedure.  The  proportion  of  police  to  the  popu- 
lation was  in  1834  almost  identical  with  that  of 
recent  years — I  believe  that  at  the  present  moment 
it  has  not  quite  kept  pace — and  the  procedure,  de- 
scribed in  detail  by  more  than  one  officer  before 
the  Committee,  was  quite  identical,  except  in  so  far 
as  the  legislation  of  1872  increased  the  number  of 
offences.  They  took  into  custody  the  disorderly  and 
the  dead  drunk,  leaving  the  partially  drunk  alone,  or 
even  assisting  them  home.  Moreover,  the  metropoli- 
tan record  is  a  good  barometer,  because  the  London 
drunkenness  is  the  mean  of  that  for  England  and 
Wales  (see  Chapter  VI.). 

The  following  table  is  taken  from  the  annual  re- 
ports of  the  Commissioner  of  Police.  After  1892  a 
somewhat  different  classification  of  offences  was 
adopted  in  the  returns,  which  spoils  them  for  purposes 


60         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


Metropolitan  Abea 


Number  of 

Year 

1834 

1835 

1836 

1837 

1838 

1839 

1840 

1841 

1842 

1843 

1844 

1845 

1846 

1847 

1848 

1849 

1850 

1861 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

1856 

1857 

1858 

1859 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 


persons  apprehended  for 

duct  in  proportion  to 

Proportion 
per  1,000 

12.305 

13.328 

13.692 

12.672 

12.357 

12.178 

7.919 

7.088 

5.708 

4.936 

7.319 

7.559 

7.994 

7.076 

6.776 

8.500 

9.459 

9.041 

9.028 

8.845 

8.088 

...  6.928 

6.584 

6.921 

7.056 

6.243 

6.941 

6.469 

5.769 

5.465 


drunk  and  disorderly  con- 
population 

v«,r  Proportion 

^^"  per  1.000 

1864  5.716 

1865  5.764 

1866  5.412 

1867  4.907 

1868  5.597 

1869  5.722 

1870  5.975 

1871  6.358 

1872  7.502 

1873  7.535 

1874  6.509 

1875  7.578 

1876  7.676 

1877  7.274 

1878  7.809 

1879  7.345 

1880  6.345 

1881  5.698 

1882  5.269 

1883  5.264 

1884 4.883 

1885  4.295 

1886  4.589 

1887  3.772 

1888  4.228 

1889  4.794 

1890  5.374 

1891  6.350 

1892  5.276 


of  comparison  with  the  earlier  years.  The  table  con- 
tains the  liquor  question  in  a  nutshell  to  any  one 
who  can  interpret  the  fluctuations.  They  show  the 
influences  that  govern  the  prevalence  of  drunken- 
ness, the  part  played  by  legislation  and  its  limits.    I 


THE  DECUNE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  61 

cannot  here  go  into  all  the  lessons  to  be  learnt  from 
it,  but  will  point  out  those  bearing  on  the  immediate 
question. 

In  the  first  place  the  reader  will  notice  an  im- 
mense drop  between  the  period  1834-39  and  the  fol- 
lowing decade.  This  was  due  to  three  causes — (1) 
the  Metropolitan  Police  Act  of  1839;  (2)  Father 
Mathew's  temperance  crusade,  which  culminated  in' 
1843,  the  high-water  mark  of  teetotalism;  (3)  the 
state  of  trade  and  prevailing  distress.  The  duty  on 
spirits  was  also  increased,  which  affected  consump- 
tion. I  refer  again  to  these  points  in  subsequent 
chapters.  The  Act  of  1839,  which  closed  public- 
houses  on  Saturday  night  and  Sunday  morning,  did 
more  to  diminish  public  drunkenness  than  any  single 
measure  before  or  since.  Its  immediate  effect  is 
shown  by  the  drop  from  12.178  to  7.919  in  the  pro- 
portional police  figures.  I  wish  to  draw  particular 
attention  to  this  Act  and  its  effect  because  it  is  not 
so  much  as  mentioned  in  the  summaries  of  liquor 
legislation  published  by  the  Peel  Commission.  An- 
other point,  to  which  I  shall  refer  again,  is  the  fact 
that  during  the  great  decrease  in  public  drunkenness 
a  large  increase  of  beer-shops  was  taking  place. 

Passing  on,  the  reader  will  notice  that  public  drunk- 
enness has  never  again  been  nearly  so  high  since 
1839  as  it  was  before.  It  has  fluctuated  mainly  under 
the  influence  of  good  and  bad  trade,  and  the  low- 
water  mark  was  reached  in  1887,  a  year  of  great 
distress,  but  the  general  tendency  has  been  to  keep 
at  a  comparatively  low  level  and  not  to  rise  so  high 
in  prosperous   times.     This  is  markedly  shown   in 


62 


DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


the  unprecedentedly  prosperous  years  following  1871, 
as  already  pointed  out.  The  real  meaning  of  this 
fact  is  that  the  practice  of  getting  intoxicated  is  be- 
coming confined  to  a  smaller  and  smaller  section  of 
the  community,  and  that  the  standard  of  conduct 
which  stops  short  of  it  is  accepted  more  and  more 
widely  and  lower  down  in  the  social  scale. 

The  following  table,  drawn  up  from  the  Chief  Con- 
stable's returns,  gives  the  proportional  drunkenness 
of  Liverpool  in  the  last  thirty  years.  It  is  less  valu- 
able than  the  London  one  for  the  present  purpose 
because  it  covers  a  shorter  period  and  the  procedure 
has  been  less  consistent. 


Liverpool 

Number  of  persons  drunk  when  apprehended  in  proportion  to 
population 


Year 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1876 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
^880 


Proportion 
per  1,000 
...30 
...29 
...35 
...42 
...46 
...45 
...37 
...38 
...43 
...45 
...42 
...32 
...31 
...25 
...26 


Year 

1881  .... 

Proportion 
per  1,000 
25 

1882  .... 

29 

1883  .... 

31 

1884  .... 

31 

1885  .... 

29 

1886  .... 

24 

1887  .... 

30 

1888  .... 

30 

1889  .... 

31 

1890  .... 

28 

1891  .... 

21 

1892  .... 

19 

1893  .... 

17 

1894  .... 

12 

1895  .... 

9 

Li  comparing  this  table  with  the  figures  for  Lon- 
don it  must  be  remembered  that  the  classification 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS 


63 


is  different,  which  accounts  to  some  extent  for  the 
difference  in  the  relative  drunkenness.  '  Drunk  when 
apprehended  *  is  not  quite  the  same  thing  as  *  appre- 
hended for  drunk  and  disorderly  conduct.*  Still 
Liverpool  is  a  more  drunken  city ;  it  contains  a  much 
smaller  proportion  of  the  well-to-do  classes.  The 
principal  point  is  the  very  striking  fall  since  1889 ;  it 
is  due  mainly  to  the  introduction  of  a  new  method 
of  supervising  public-houses  and  is  therefore  highly 
instructive.  For  the  rest  we  see  here  the  same  im- 
provement since  the  period  of  prosperity,  which  was 
felt  somewhat  earlier  in  Liverpool. 

From  Glasgow  we  have  the  following  police  returns 
for  forty  years: 


Persons  apprehended  for  Drunkenness 


Year 

1867 

1858 

1869 

1860 

1861 

1862 

1863 

1864 

1866 

1866 

1867 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1«74 

1876 

1876 


Proportion 
per  1.000 
37 

Year 
1877  .... 

Proportion 
per  1,000 
29 

51 

1878  .... 

28 



1879  .... 

1880  .... 

21 

60 

26 

55 

1881  .... 

28 

52 

1882  .... 

28 

56 

1883  .... 

27 

54 

1884  .... 

23 

55 

1885  .... 

19 

52 

1886  .... 

20 

48 

1887  .... 

23 

47 

1888  .... 

27 



1889  .... 

1890  .... 

30 

56 

37 

58 

1891  .... 

30 

65 

1892  .... 

28 

71 

1893  .... 

25 

62 

1894  .... 

26 

32 

1895  .... 

27 

28 

isyd  .... 

28 

64        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Glasgow  is  obviously  a  much  more  drunken  city 
than  either  Liverpool  or  London,  but  the  same 
fluctuations  and  the  same  general  improvement  are 
shown.  There  is  the  high-water  mark  at  the  time 
of  good  trade  and  a  low-water  mark  in  the  bad 
period,  though  both  fell  a  year  or  two  earlier  in 
Glasgow.  But  the  second  twenty  years  show  a 
marked  and  general  improvement  over  the  first 
twenty. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  these  police  statistics 
indefinitely.  London,  Liverpool,  and  Glasgow  have 
been  given,  not  as  particularly  favourable  specimens, 
but  merely  as  the  largest  towns.  Others  show 
virtually  the  same  result,  and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  fall  in  the  police  returns  cannot  be  explained 
by  greater  laxity  of  procedure;  for  by  the  general 
consent  of  all  witnesses — official,  temperance,  and 
independent — before  the  Royal  Commission  the  police 
procedure  has  rather  incregised  in  stringency.  No  one 
has  ventured  to  allege  the  contrary. 

The  following  table,  showing  the  drunkenness  for 
the  whole  of  England  and  Wales  during  the  last 
twenty-five  years  in  quinquennial  periods,  is  taken 
from  the  Judicial  Statistics: 


Number  of  persons  proceeded  against  for  drunkenness  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales  per  100,000  of  population 

1874-78  812.48 

1879-83  697.50 

1884-88  636.40 

1889-93  614.95 

1894-98  605.93 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS 


65 


The  story  is  plain,  though  the  improvement  has 
not  been  so  continuous  as  it  appears  here.  Latterly 
the  figures  have  risen  again,  reaching  674.64  in  1899. 
Moreover  the  table  begins  in  a  peculiarly  drunken 
period.  Previous  to  1874  the  returns  had  been 
going  up  for  several  years: 

1857-61    428.50 

1862-66    478.26 

1867-71    647.48 

1872         656.62 

1873         785.15 

This,  again,  must  be  read  with  a  double  qualifi- 
cation. It  begins  in  a  period  of  low  consumption, 
which  rose  with  improving  trade.  At  the  same  time 
the  country  constabulary,  only  established  in  1857, 
were  increasing  in  numbers  and  efficiency  and  were 
particularly  stimulated  by  the  Act  of  1872,  which  had 
a  marked  effect  in  swelling  the  returns  for  the  country 
as  a  whole,  though  it  caused  little  change  in  London 
and  other  already  well-policed  towns.  The  Act  must 
be  borne  in  mind  when  any  period  anterior  to  1872 
is  compared  with  one  posterior  to  it. 

We  may  conclude  this  section  of  statistics  with 
some  figures  for  Ireland. 


Year 


Number  of 

persons  drunk  and 

drunk  and  disorderly 


1885  87,133 

1886  79,828 

1887  79,476 

1888  87,572 

1889  92,137 

1890  100,202 


Number  of 
Year  persons  drunk  and 

drunk  and  disorderly 

1891  100,528 

1892  93,197 

1893  89,565 

1894  88,215 

1895  85,361 


66        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

During  this  period  the  population  has  somewhat 
decreased.  In  1891  it  was  4,706,162,  and  the 
proportional  drunkenness,  therefore,  was  2138.89  per 
100,000. 

NUMBER  OP  LICENSED  HOUSES 

I  §ass  on  to  the  number  of  licensed  houses  in  pro- 
portion to  the  population.  I  do  not  attach  quite 
so  much  importance  to  this  factor  as  some  do,  for 
there  have  been  periods  when  a  great  increase  of 
licenses  has  coincided  with  a  great  diminution  of 
drunkenness  and  of  the  consumption  of  drink,  and 
when  exactly  the  opposite  has  occurred.  Thus  in 
the  year  1833  there  were  in  England  and  Wales 
88,000  public-houses  in  round  numbers ;  in  1837  they 
had  increased  to  96,000,  but  the  consumption  of 
spirits  had  decreased  by  a  million  gallons  (the  amount 
of  beer  is  not  available),  and  the  London  *  drunks  ' 
had  fallen  from  19  to  12^  per  1,000.  Again  in  1869 
there  were  118,000  public-houses;  in  1876  they  had 
diminished  to  108,000,  but  the  consumption  of  beer 
had  increased  from  29.1  gallons  to  33.7  gallons  per 
head,  and  that  of  spirits  and  wine  from  1.45  gallon 
to  1.80  gallon,  while  the  London  *  drunks  '  had  risen 
from  20,391  to  32,325.  Increase  in  the  number  of 
public-houses,  therefore,  does  not  always  mean  a 
worse  state  of  things,  nor  can  their  decrease  be 
relied  on  as  a  test  of  improvement.  Still  I  think  that, 
cceteris  paribus,  the  number  is  a  factor  of  impor- 
tance, and,  taken  broadly,  I  consider  diminution  a 
sign  of  improvement. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS 


67 


The  diminution  during  the  period  I  have  taken 
has  been  very  great,  and  it  is  going  on  steadily. 

Total  number  of  licenses  in  proportion  to  population 


— 

18Si 

1891 

DecreaM 

England  and  Wales 
United  Kingdom     . 

1  to  90  persons 
1  to  102  persons 

1  to  187  persons 
1  to  196  persons 

107  per  cent. 
92  per  cent. 

Public-houees  and  beer-houses  in  proportion  to  population 

— 

1831 

1891 

Decrease 

England  and  Wales 
United  Kingdom 

1  to  168  persons 
1  to  200  persons 

1  to  300  persons 
1  to  304  persons 

79  per  cent. 
50  per  cent. 

Since  1891  a  further  considerable  decrease  has  taken 
place.  The  census  figures  corroborate  these  tables. 
In  1831  the  number  of  males  over  twenty  years  of 
age  in  England  and  Wales  returned  under  the  head- 
ings of  *  publican,  hotel  or  inn  keeper,  retailer  of 
beer  '  and  *  spirit  shops, '  and  including  both  employ- 
ers and  employed,  was  57,664  in  a  total  population 
of  13,897,187.  In  1891  the  numbers  were  respectively 
66,678  and  29,001,018.  To  put  them  in  a  tabular 
form: 


- 

Population 

PereonB  ensrased  in  * 
retailinfirllquor 

Proportion 
per  10.000 

1831 

1891 

13,897,167 
29,001,018 

57,664 
66,678 

41 
23 

This  is  perhaps  a  better  basis  of  comparison  than 
the  number  of  licensed  premises,  because  premises 
vary  so  much  in  size. 


68        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

The  reduction  in  numbers  has  not  been  going  on 
continuously  during  the  whole  time.  On  the  con- 
trary, in  England  and  Wales  it  only  dates  from  1869. 
Up  to  that  year  there  was  a  steady  increase  of  public- 
houses  and  beer-houses.  Then  a  reduction  of  beer- 
houses began,  followed,  a  few  years  later,  by  a  similar 
fall  in  fully  licensed  houses,  and  this  movement  has 
continued  steadily  year  by  year  up  to  the  present 
time.  In  1869  the  total  number  of  fully  licensed 
houses  and  beer-houses  for  on-consumption  was 
118,602;  in  1896  it  was  97,014.  That  is  to  say,  a 
reduction  of  21,588  occurred,  while  the  population 
increased  by  about  9,000,000.  This  remarkable  change 
was  the  result  of  the  legislation  of  1869,  1872,  and 
1874.  I  consider  it  a  distinct  sign  of  progress;  and 
it  is  difficult  to  see  how  in  the  face  of  these  facts 
it  can  be  maintained  that  the  law  has  completely 
failed,  and  the  liquor  trade  is  increasing  its  hold  on 
the  people. 

In  Scotland  there  has  been  a  steady  and  almost 
continuous  fall  since  1829.  In  that  year  the  number 
of  public-houses  selling  spirits  was  17,371;  in  1896 
it  was  7,146,  and  meanwhile  the  population  had  in- 
creased from  about  2,300,000  to  4,200,000.  That  is 
to  say,  the  public-houses  had  diminished  by  58  per 
cent,  and  the  population  nearly  doubled. 

The  case  of  Ireland  is  very  different.  The  popu- 
lation has  been  falling  since  the  census  of  1841,  when 
it  stood  at  8,175,124.  Roughly  speaking,  it  has  been 
reduced  by  one-half,  but  the  public-houses  have  in- 
creased rather  than  diminished.    The  date,  however, 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS  69 

is  hardly  fair,  because  it  fell  at  the  time  of  Father 
Mathew's  campaign  and  a  period  of  great  distress, 
when  thousands  of  licenses  were  given  up  for  lack 
of  custom.  Public-houses  dropped  from  21,326  in  the 
year  1838  to  14,162  in  1841.  To  take  the  latter  as 
a  starting  point,  therefore,  would  be  fallacious.  None 
the  less,  it  remains  true  that  licenses  have  been 
gradually  increasing  for  many  years  to  a  falling 
population.  One  explanation,  given  to  me  privately 
but  from  a  serious  source,  is  that  the  Roman  Catholic 
clergy  are  secretly  opposed  to  the  reduction  of  licenses, 
because  the  Church  profits  largely  by  bequests  from 
publicans,  who  buy  their  peace  with  Heaven  in  this 
way. 

It  is  worth  noting  in  passing  that  whereas  Scot- 
land and  Ireland  differ  as  widely  as  possible  in 
regard  to  the  number  of  public-houses  in  proportion 
to  population — the  one  showing  a  progressive  de- 
crease, the  other  an  increase — they  are  both  alike  in 
having  more  than  three  times  the  amount  of  police 
drunkenness  that  there  is  in  England,  which  comes 
between  them  in  respect  to  public-houses.  The  fact 
is  curious  and  susceptible  of  various  explanations. 
One,  no  doubt,  will  be  that  police  statistics  are  worth- 
less; but  I  have  already  discussed  that.  Having 
taken  observations  of  drunkenness  in  the  three 
countries,  I  should  say  that  the  police  figures 
represent  the  relative  amount  with  substantial 
accuracy.  My  own  explanation  would  be  the 
climate  and  the  practice  of  drinking  spirits  in 
Scotland   and   Ireland.     These   points   are   further 


70        DRINK,  TEIMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

discussed  in  Chapter  VI.  on  the  Forces  of  Intem- 
perance. 

THE   CONSUMPTION   OF  ALCOHOL 

Statistics  of  consumption  are  valuable  evidence, 
but  they  lend  themselves  to  error  even  more  readily 
than  police  returns.  In  comparing  one  country 
with  another  they  are  totally  misleading  unless  the 
mode  of  drinking  is  taken  into  consideration;  and 
in  comparing  different  periods  in  the  same  country 
they  are  equally  misleading  unless  they  are  given 
consecutively  and  allowance  made  for  abnormal 
circumstances.  For  instance,  I  have  often  seen 
comparisons  between  past  and  recent  years,  greatly 
to  the  disadvantage  of  the  latter,  but  on  examination 
it  is  found  that  the  selected  year  or  period  in  the 
past  is  one  of  abnormally  low  consumption,  and  the 
other,  with  which  it  is  contrasted,  above  the  average. 
Thus  1840  and  the  years  immediately  succeeding  are 
often  selected  for  comparison;  but,  as  I  have  already 
pointed  out,  these  were  most  abnormal  years.  How 
abnormal  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  whereas 
the  average  consumption  of  spirits  in  the  United 
Kingdom  during  the  five  years  1834-39  was  30 
million  gallons,  it  dropped  in  1840  to  25J  millions, 
then  to  24  and  22  millions;  but  in  1849  it  was  up 
again  to  28  millions,  whence  it  rose  year  by  year  to 
31  millions  in  1854.  I  have  previously  mentioned 
the  accidental  combination  of  conditions  which  made 
the  1840  period  so  abnormal.    If  we  take  it  as  a 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS 


71 


starting-point  of  comparison  we  shall  merely  deceive 
ourselves. 

Another  source  of  error  is  to  reduce  the  various 
drinks  to  a  common  denominator  expressed  either 
as  alcohol  or  as  money.  It  is  valid  for  comparing 
recent  years  with  each  other,  but  not  for  comparing 
the  past  with  the  present;  because  the  amount  of 
alcohol  contained  in  beer  and  wine,  and  the  pur- 
chasing power  of  money,  have  both  undergone  great 
change.  Further,  if  we  go  back  fifty  or  sixty  years, 
the  quantity  of  beer  has  to  be  assumed,  as  no  official 
returrls  are  available. 

It  is  best,  therefore,  to  take  the  recorded  consump- 
tion under  each  head,  and  to  begin  with  the  year 
1831,  which  was  not  of  an  exceptional  character ;  the 
consumption  having,  indeed,  been  considerably  higher 
in  the  preceding  years. 

Average  annual  consumption  per  head  in  United  Kingdom 


Years 

Spirits 

Wine 

Beer 

1831-40 

1.113  gal. 

.260  gal. 

— 

1841-50 

0.945  gal. 

.231  gal. 

— 

1851-60 

1.018  gal. 

.233  gal. 

— 

1861-70 

0.941  gal. 

.420  gal. 

27.53  gals. 

1871-80 

1.173  gal. 

.512  gal. 

31.55  gals. 

1881-90 

0.990  gal.  ' 

.388  gal. 

27.77  gals. 

There  is  no  continuous  record  of  beer  until  1856; 
between  that  and  1860  the  average  was  23.5  gals. 

This  table  shows  neither  a  definite  increase  nor  a 
decrease,  but  an  alternation,  with  rather  a  tendency 
to   increase   latterly;   but   it   must   be   remembered 


72        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

that  the  returns  in  later  years  give  the  consumption 
much  more  completely  than  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
period.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  beer  brewed 
privately  then,  and  still  more  illicit  distillation  and 
importation  of  spirits,  whereas  smuggling  has  now 
practically  ceased,  and  what  little  beer  is  brewed 
privately  is  included  in  the  returns.  The  Inland 
Revenue  report  for  1884  states  that  *  in  the  year 
1820  more  than  half  the  spirits  actually  consumed 
were  supplied  by  the  smuggler.'  This  disturbing 
element  in  the  statistics  was  only  eliminated  by  de- 
grees. Many  years  later  there  were  still  10,000  prose- 
cutions in  a  year  for  illicit  stills,  and  it  was  not  until 
1855  that  smuggling  was  fairly  suppressed.  More- 
over, it  must  be  remembered  that  modern  beer  is  of 
much  less  alcoholic  strength,  while  the  light  wines 
have  displaced  the  heavy  ones.  The  mean  annual  con- 
sumption per  head  for  the  whole  period  of  sixty 
years  is: 

Spirits  Wines  Beer 

1 .030  gal.  ,.340  gal.  ( 30  years )  28  gals. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  period  the  mean  consump- 
tion of  spirits  per  head  was  1.025  gal.,  in  the  second 
half  1.034  gal.,  showing  only  a  trifling  fractional 
difference.  Taken  over  a  long  period  the  consump- 
tion remains  remarkably  equable.  The  periodical 
fluctuations  are  caused  by  several  agencies.  The 
most  important  is  the  state  of  trade,  which  is  re- 
flected with  great  fidelity  in  the  returns.  When  the 
people    have    more    money    they    buy    more    drink. 


THE  DECLINE  OF  DRUNKENNESS 


73 


The  same  influence  is  seen  operating  conversely  in 
the  varying  price  of  drink,  as  affected  by  the  duties. 
I  deal  with  these  points  more  fully  later  on.  ■ 

Since  1890  the  annual  consumption  in  gallons  has 
been  as  follows: 


Year 

Spirits 

Wln« 

Beer 

1891 

1.034 

.390 

30.1 

1892 

1.034 

.381 

29.7 

1893 

0.980 

.366 

29.5 

1894 

0.966 

.356 

29.4 

1895 

1.000 

.370 

29.6 

1896 

1.020 

.400 

30.8 

1897 

1.030 

.400 

31.4 

1898 

1.040 

.410 

31.9 

1899 

1.085 

.410 

32.7 

Mean  of  9  years 

1.021 

.380 

30.4 

Here,  once  more,  the  inevitable  influence  of  good 
times  is  shown.  Drink  has  gone  up  with  wages, 
but  it  has  not  gone  up  nearly  so  high  as  it  did  during 
the  last  period  of  marked  prosperity.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  compare  the  two  periods  of  five  years. 


Spirits                 1 

Wine                 1 

Beer 

1873-77 

1895-99 

1873-77 

1895-99 

1873-77 

1895-99 

1.22 

1.00 

.56 

.37 

33.5 

29.6 

1.26 

1.02 

.53 

.40 

34.0 

30.8 

1.29 

1.03 

.63 

.40 

33.3 

31.4 

1.27 

1.04 

.56 

.41 

33.7 

31.9 

1.22 

1.09 

.52 

.41 

32.3 

32.7 

Mean  1.25 

1.03 

.64 

.40 

33.3 

31.3 

Comparing    the    last    nine    years,    1891-99,    with 
the  previous  sixty,  we  notice  that  the  consumption 


74        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

of  spirits  has  been  a  little  below  the  mean,  that  of 
beer  and  wine  distinctly  above  it,  and  especially 
beer.  If  this  be  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  fact 
that  light  beers  and  wines  have  displaced  heavy  ones, 
it  goes  to  show  a  tendency  to  prefer  the  less  intoxi- 
cating liquors. 

The  general  upshot  of  this  branch  of  statistics  is 
to  prove  that  the  improvement  in  good  order  and 
drunkenness  and  the  reduction  of  public-houses  are 
not  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  diminution  in 
the  quantity  of  liquor  consumed.  The  people  ex- 
hibit no  tendency  whatever  to  give  up  drink,  but 
they  take  it  in  a  more  decent  fashion,  and  in  times 
of  prosperity  they  do  not  give  way  to  such  excessive 
indulgence  as  in  former  >iays.  At  the  same  time 
they  show  a  growing  preference  for  the  lighter  and 
less  deleterious  kinds  of  liquor.  In  short,  there  is 
more  moderate — or,  as  Mr.  Whyte  puts  it,  quiet  soak- 
ing— drinking  and  less  drunkenness.  Perhaps  one 
may  interpret  the  situation  as  persistent  use  with  less 
abuse. 

Note. — ^The  foregoing  statistical  review  ends  with  1899. 
Since  then  the  absence  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  male  adults  in 
South  Africa  has  introduced  a  disturbing  element.  Trade 
reached  a  maximum  in  1900,  when  exports  of  British  produce 
stood  at  71.  28.  Ad.  a  head — nearly  the  highest  on  record. 
Nevertheless  the  consumption  of  beer  fell  off  by  a  gallon  a 
head,  and  the  drunkenness  figure  fell  with  it  from  674  to  636. 
The  movement  has  since  continued  with  declining  trade.  The 
high-water  mark  of  the  recent  relapse,  therefore,  is  1899.  Com- 
paring it  with  1876,  we  find  20  per  cent,  less  drunkenness. 


75 


CHAPTER  IV 

FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS 

I  HAVE  referred  in  the  last  chapter  to  female 
drunkenness  as  a  separate  subject.  Its  alleged  in- 
crease is  the  great  exception  to  the  general  improve- 
ment which  has  been  shown,  and  is  almost  universally 
admitted,  to  have  taken  place  in  the  behaviour  of 
the  people.  The  question  is  of  sufficient  importance 
to  deserve  more  careful  examination  than  it  has  yet 
received  so  far  as  I  know. 

At  the  outset  a  distinction  must  be  drawn 
between  the  upper  and  the  lower  classes.  Against 
the  former  I  think  the  charge  must  be  admitted. 
There  is  no  absolute  proof,  perhaps,  but  a  good  deal 
of  evidence,  that  ladies  belonging  to  the  upper  and 
middle  classes  have  shown  an  increasing  tendency 
to  inebriety  of  late  years.  I  prefer  the  word  '  inebri- 
ety,* because  it  implies  habit,  and  covers  the  use  of 
drugs.  There  is  a  strong  opinion  in  the  medical 
profession  to  that  effect,  and  it  is  corroborated  by 
general  experience.  Most  people  know  or  have 
heard  of  cases  in  their  own  rank  of  life,  if  not  among 
their  own  immediate  friends.  Probably  it  is  not  a 
new  thing.     There  were  those  ladies  of  quality  who 


76         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

would  '  take  off  cup  for  cup  '  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  we  know  from  Fielding  that  they  had 
their  successors  in  the  eighteenth;  but  free  indul- 
gence seems  to  have  become  decidedly  more  general 
among  ladies  in  quite  recent  years.  Within  one's 
own  recollection  their  habits  and  standard  of  be- 
haviour have  noticeably  changed,  both  in  public  and 
in  private.  The  causes  are  obvious.  One  of  them 
is  the  escape  from  conventional  shackles,  and  the 
imitation  of  masculine  ways.  This  movement  was 
to  regenerate  man  by  feminine  example  and  compe- 
tition. I  am  afraid  the  opposite  result  is  more 
conspicuous  up  to  the  present.  Women  have  shown 
an  unforeseen  facility  for  adopting  masculine  vices, 
without  the  saving  grace  of  masculine  self-respect. 
When  they  give  way  at  all  they  are  lost;  and  the 
temptation  to  which  they  are  thus  exposed  by  the 
removal  of  conventional  safeguards  is  much  greater 
than  that  which  assails  men,  by  reason  of  the 
physical  weakness  and  emotional  sensibility  peculiar 
to  their  sex.  They  are  generally  led  to  take  stimu- 
lants and  other  intoxicants  by  physical  or  mental 
suffering.  Modern  manners  make  it  easy  for  them 
to  continue  the  habit,  and  their  comparative  lack  of 
self-control  makes  it  difficult  for  them  to  resist. 
Hotel  and  restaurant  life,  the  custom  of  lunching 
and  dining  out  and  alone,  the  general  freedom  of 
behaviour,  the  incessant  pursuit  of  excitement,  their 
newly  won  independence,  and  the  command  of 
money — all  these  things  place  women  in  a  novel 
position,  and  provide  them  with  fatal  facilities  for 


FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS  77 

indulgence  when  once  they  have  given  way.  So  one 
sees  them  at  the  restaurant  or  in  the  confectioner's 
shop,  drinking  wines  and  liqueurs  to  an  extent  which 
indicates  the  existence  of  a  morbid  appetite.  Then 
the  enormous  multiplication  of  narcotic  and  anodyne 
drugs,  and  the  medical  fashion — for  it  is  nothing  else 
— of  ordering  everybody  to  drink  Scotch  whisky,  are 
modern  innovations  which  tend  to  promote  feminine 
inebriety.  There  is  also  evidence  to  show  that  women 
on  the  downward  path  are  assisted  by  the  facility 
with  which  they  can  obtain  liquor  surreptitiously 
from  the  grocer.  In  view  of  all  these  considerations 
it  would  be  surprising  if  some  increase  in  this  form 
of  self-indulgence  had  not  taken  place  in  the  classes 
of  life  affected  by  the  novel  conditions  mentioned. 
Its  importance,  however,  may  easily  be  exaggerated. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  movement  is 
very  large  or  of  a  lasting  character.  Rather  the  good 
sense  and  right  feeling  of  the  educated  womanhood 
of  this  country  may  be  trusted  to  apply  the  required 
corrective  when  the  danger  is  fully  recognised. 

Turning  now  to  the  larger  question  of  feminine 
intemperance  among  the  mass  of  the  people,  we  find 
a  different  state  of  things.  The  same  reasons  for 
an  increase  do  not  apply  to  the  women  of  the  lower 
classes,  and  we  should  naturally  expect  that  they 
would  share  in  some  degree  in  the  general  improve- 
ment. That  was,  in  fact,  the  opinion  of  some  of 
the  most  experienced  witnesses  before  the  Royal 
Commission.  For  instance.  Sir  John  Bridge 
thought   that    female    drunkenness    had    diminished 


78         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

in  London,  though  not  to  the  same  extent  as  male, 
and  his  experience  was  confirmed  by  that  of  the 
Chief  Constable  of  Liverpool,  the  Chief  Constable 
of  York,  and  others.  Some  witnesses  considered 
that  matters  were  stationary  in  this  respect,  but  a 
larger  number  expressed  the  belief  that  drunkenness 
was  increasing  among  women.  Many  of  these  were 
members  of  temperance  societies  or  engaged  in 
temperance  work,  and  no  doubt  they  reflected  the 
opinions  current  in  their  own  circles.  The  recording 
of  these  opinions  by  the  Commission  without  sub- 
mitting them  to  any  sort  of  critical  examination 
has  in  turn  lent  them  an  appearance  of  authority 
which  has  carried  weight  with  the  public.  Some 
of  the  witnesses  gave  no  reasons  for  their  opinions. 
One  well-known  lady,  to  whose  observations  unac- 
countable deference  was  paid,  was  satisfied  to  remark 
*  I  fancy  it  is  indisputable.*  Another  referred  to 
criminal  statistics,  but  those  she  produced  were 
of  a  singular  character  and  quite  irreconcilable 
with  the  official  figures.  Dr.  Norman  Kerr  based 
his  opinion  on  the  fact  that  '  thirty  years  ago  he 
hardly  ever  saw  a  woman  in  a  public-house,'  and 
on  the  death-rates  from  chronic  alcoholism  in  the 
Registrar-General's  returns.  This  is  the  only  piece 
of  positive  evidence  that  has  been  produced.  The 
point  on  which  stress  has  been  laid  is  that  the  death- 
rates  from  this  cause  have  increased  more  rapidly 
among  women  than  among  men. 

Before  dealing  with  the  figures  it  is  necessary 
to  point  out  a  defect  in  the  mortality  returns, 
which   is   a   familiar   commonplace   to   students   of 


FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS 


79 


epidemiology  but  a  source  of  constant  error  to 
persons  unaccustomed  to  handle  vital  statistics. 
The  Registrar-General's  mortality  returns  are  based 
on  the  certificates  of  the  causes  of  death  sent  in  by 
medical  men,  and  therefore  do  not  represent  hard 
and  fast  facts,  but  only  opinions  as  to  facts;  and 
those  opinions  are  subject  to  constant  change.  An 
*  alarming  increase  '  of  some  disease  or  other  is  often 
discovered  on  the  strength  of  the  Registrar- General's 
returns,  when  it  may  only  mean  that  doctors  have 
taken  to  inscribing  that  disease  more  frequently  as 
a  cause  of  death,  either  from  improved  knowledge 
or  greater  care  or  mere  change  of  fashion.  Then 
there  is  every  year  a  considerable  reserve  of  deaths 
the  cause  of  which  is  uncertified  or  imperfectly  cer- 
tified; and  as  registration  improves,  more  cases  are 
every  year  transferred  from  the  class  of  *  ill-defined 
or  not  specified  causes  '  to  definite  headings,  and  thus 
certain  diseases,  of  which  alcoholism  is  one,  show  an 
apparent  increase,  which  is  really  due  to  more  exact 
registration.  Several  causes,  therefore,  combine  to 
qualify  the  significance  of  the  annual  mortality 
figures.  Like  other  statistics  they  must  be  read  with 
due  regard  to  the  conditions  under  which  they  are 
compiled.  The  figures  in  quinquennial  periods  are 
as  follows: 


Death-rates  from  intemperance    {chronic  alcoholism   and 
delirium  tremens)  per  million  living 


- 

1876-80 

1861-85 

1886-90 

1891-95 

1696-99 

Males 

Females  . . 

60 
24 

66 
31 

74 
40 

86 
50 

100 
60 

80        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

The  table  shows  a  large  and  progressive  rise  for 
both  sexes,  but  much  greater  for  females  than  for 
males,  the  respective  rates  of  increase  being  150  per 
cent,  and  66  per  cent.  If,  however,  we  examine  the 
facts  more  closely,  it  becomes  clear  that  the  explana- 
tion lies  in  a  change  of  registration.  The  figures 
are  those  for  *  intemperance,'  which  is  made  up  of 

*  chronic  alcoholism  '  and  *  delirium  tremens.'  With 
these  ought  to  be  classed  *  cirrhosis  of  the  liver,' 
which  is  mainly  caused  by  intemperance.  If  there 
were  a  real  increase  of  mortality  from  this  cause, 
there  would  be  a  rise  under  all  these  heads,  not 
perhaps  exactly  corresponding,  but  approximately 
equal.    Instead  of  that  we  find  the  death-rate  from 

*  delirium  tremens  '  nearly  stationary  and  only  a 
small  rise  in  that  from  cirrhosis,  equally  shared  by 
males  and  females.  The  great  increase  is  in  chronic 
alcoholism  alone,  and  it  is  wildly  out  of  proportion 
to  the  other  two  causes  of  death.  Now  both  delirium 
tremens  and  cirrhosis  of  the  liver  are  well-defined 
and  well-understood  conditions,  whereas  chronic 
alcoholism  is  a  vague  term  embracing  many  condi- 
tions and  interpreted  in  different  senses  by  different 
practitioners.  It  is  one  of  those  modem  expressions 
which  have  come  into  use  as  a  matter  of  convenience 
or  fashion,  and  its  increased  application  to  conditions 
which  used  to  be  otherwise  described  naturally  takes 
effect  in  the  death  certificates.  Moreover  inebriety 
has  of  late  years  been  more  studied  as  a  disease,  it 
has  been  more  talked  about,  and  there  is  less  re- 
luctance to  state  it  as  a  cause  of  death,  especially 


FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS  81 

at  coroners*  inquests,  which  furnish  a  large  propor- 
tion— about  one-third — of  these  deaths  ascribed  to 
alcohol. 

But,  it  may  be  said,  this  does  not  account  for  the 
enormous  difference  between  the  relative  increase  of 
the  male  and  female  figures.  It  accounts  at  once  for 
a  very  large  part  of  the  difference,  for  if  chronic 
alcoholism  be  taken  alone  it  is  found  that  the  increase 
is  91  per  cent,  among  males,  and  125  per  cent, 
among  females.  This  comparatively  small  difference 
may  be  explained,  perhaps,  by  the  increase  of 
inebriety  among  the  upper  and  middle  classes  already 
discussed  and  by  the  superior  consideration  to  women 
shown  formerly  in  greater  reluctance  to  state  that 
cause  of  death  in  their  case. 

But  the  truth  is  that  these  death-rate  statistics 
will  not  bear  a  close  examination.  They  are  too 
imperfect  and  cover  too  short  a  period  to  permit  any 
conclusion  to  be  safely  drawn.  The  vagueness  of 
the  heading  *  Chronic  Alcoholism  '  leaves  too  much 
scope  for  error  or  accidental  variation.  This  un- 
certainty shows  itself  in  abrupt  skips  from  year  to 
year  which  cannot  be  accounted  for.  There  was, 
for  instance,  absolutely  no  reason  why  the  number 
of  women  dying  from  chronic  alcoholism  should 
jump  from  269  in  1880  to  347  in  the  next  year,  or 
drop  from  782  in  1893  down  to  672  in  1894.  Those 
who  are  accustomed  to  deal  with  death-rates  recog- 
nise in  such  abrupt  changes  an  element  of  accident 
which   makes   any   deduction   unsafe.     The   returns 


82         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

for  the  next  two  or  three  years  may  upset  the  whole 
calculation. 

Further,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  alcoholism 
is  a  chronic  condition,  which  varies  in  duration  from 
two  or  three  years  to  forty  or  fifty.  The  returns 
may  be  swollen,  therefore,  by  a  number  of  old-stand- 
ing cases,  which  have  succumbed  at  last,  while  the 
general  volume  of  intemperance  is  greatly  diminished. 
Finally,  there  is  arsenical  poisoning.  This  recently 
detected  cause  of  death  and  the  marked  suscepti- 
bility of  women  may  account  for  the  whole  thing. 

I  turn  to  another  branch  of  statistics — namely, 
the  police  returns.  Their  defects  have  been  discussed 
in  the  last  chapter,  and  I  need  not  repeat  what  was 
then  said  except  to  remind  the  reader  that  such 
variation  as  has  occurred  in  police  procedure  of 
recent  years  has  by  general  consent  been  in  the 
direction  of  increased  stringency,  and  would  there- 
fore tend  to  increase  rather  than  diminish  the 
number  of  apprehensions.  I  will  take  the  same  term 
of  25  years — 1874  to  1898 — as  in  the  last  chapter. 
It  covers  the  period  of  alleged  increase.  Complete 
figures  for  England  and  Wales  are  available. 
There  was  a  change  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
Judicial  Statistics  in  1893,  but  it  does  not  affect  the 
continuity  of  the  returns.  The  cases,  previously 
placed  all  under  one  heading,  have  since  been  divided 
into  two  classes:  (1)  apprehended,  (2)  proceeded 
against  by  summons.  The  two  added  together  give 
the  total  of  cases  *  proceeded  against  '  as  in  previous 
years. 


FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS 


83 


Women  proceeded  against  for  drunkenness  in  England  and  Wales 
1874-1898 

Nnmber  of         Proportion  per  10,000 
Year  women  of  poj  ulation 

1874  42,760  18.0 

1875  47,521  19.7 

1876  49,025  20.0 

1877  47,567  19.0 

1878  47,985  19.0 

1879  44,240  17.4 

1880  44,910  17.5 

1881  42,650  16.3 

1882  44,624  16.9 

1883  44,264  16.6 

1884  45,958  17.0 

1886  41,231  15.1 

1886  37,971  13.8 

1887  38,099  13.7 

1888  38,544  13.7 

1889  41,726  14.6 

1890  44,433  15.4 

1891  43,496  14.6 

1892  40,886  13.9 

1893  42,090  14.2 

1894  42,594  14.2 

1895  40,896  13.6 

1896  43,964  14.5 

1897  46,185  15.0 

1898  48,915  15.7 

Arranged  in  quinquennial  periods  the  proportional 

drunkenness  comes  out  thus: 


1874-78 

1879-83 

1884-88 

1889-93 

1894-98 

19.1 

16.9 

14.6 

14.5 

14.6 

These  figures  correspond  very  closely  with  those 
given  in  the  last  chapter,  both  for  consumption  and 


84         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

drunkenness  during  the  same  period.  There  has 
been  a  general  diminution  of  both  since  the  seven- 
ties, but  a  rise  since  1895  coincident  with  good 
trade.  Female  drunkenness  has  followed  the  same 
course,  but  the  diminution  has  been  somewhat  less 
than  among  men.  Sir  John  Bridge,  therefore,  and 
the  other  witnesses  who  expressed  that  opinion  are 
fully  confirmed.  The  accompanying  chart  represents 
the  movement  graphically  from  year  to  year. 

The  mean  for  the  whole  period  is  a  fraction  under 
sixteen.  The  first  eleven  years  are  all  above  the 
mean;  the  last  fourteen  are  all  below  it.  The  broad 
significance  of  these  facts  is  unmistakable.  I  had 
no  idea  what  the  result  would  be  when  I  began  to 
work  them  out,  and  am  in  a  measure  surprised  at  it. 
The  striking  thing  is  the  close  general  correspon- 
dence between  these  Judicial  Statistics  and  the 
returns  of  consumption.  There  is  the  same  high- 
water  mark  in  1875-76,  the  same  low-water  mark  in 
1887-88,  the  same  minor  rise  after  1888  and  again 
after  1895.  Thus  the  police  figures  are  confirmed. 
To  complete  the  tale,  the  curve  rose  in  1899  to  15.9, 
but  was  still  below  the  mean,  and  sank  to  15.0  in 
1900.    It  should  read  15.7,  not  15.0,  in  1898. 

The  general  conclusion  to  be  drawn  is  that 
female  drunkenness  among  the  people  has  not  in- 
creased but  very  distinctly  diminished  during  the 
last  twenty-five  years.  The  only  ground  for  the 
opposite  opinion  disclosed  is  the  comparatively  small 
upward  curve  since  1895,  which  is  fully  accounted 
for  by  the  state  of  trade.    It  is  true  that  the  period 


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86        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

taken  begins  with  the  drunken  years  1874-76,  which 
do  not  fairly  represent  the  standard  of  female  drink- 
ing in  the  past ;  but  I  am  dealing  with  the  allegation 
of  increased  drunkenness  in  this  very  period,  which 
was  not  chosen  by  me.  The  statistics  I  have  given 
are  those  which  have  been  appealed  to  in  support  of 
the  charge.  They  have  been  appealed  to  but  not 
produced  before.  I  have  merely  supplied  the  defi- 
ciency. It  is  a  pity  that  evidence  should  be  confi- 
dently referred  to  and  accepted  without  examination 
as  proof  of  a  statement,  when  in  reality  it  proves 
exactly  the  opposite. 

The  reasons  why  female  drunkenness  shows  less 
diminution  than  male  during  a  period  of  improve- 
ment are  simple  and  sufficient.  One  was  mentioned 
by  Sir  John  Bridge.  It  is  that  a  large  proportion 
of  female  drunkards  are  prostitutes,  who  drink  at  all 
times,  and  are  not  affected  by  the  conditions  which 
tend  to  sobriety  among  the  rest  of  the  community. 
The  other  reason  is  that  the  bulk  of  the  habitual 
inebriates  or  dipsomaniacs  among  the  lower  classes 
are  women,  and  with  inebriates  drink  is  a  prime 
necessity.  They  must  have  it  whatever  else  they 
forego,  whereas  others  indulge  or  abstain  at  will,  or 
according  to  the  state  of  their  pockets.  In  England 
dipsomania  is  extremely  rare  among  working  men, 
and  even  in  Scotland,  where  it  is  commoner,  the 
women  have  far  the  worse  record.  Some  interesting 
facts  have  been  brought  forward  to  show  the  greater 
prevalence  of  habitual  inebriety  among  women.  In 
Liverpool   the   chief   constable    said   it   was   almost 


FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS  87 

confined  to  them,  and  gave  the  following  figures  for 
a  period  of  ten  years; 

Persons  apprehended  in  Liverpool  in  ten  years 


Male 

Female 

More  than    5  times 

1,047 

1,675 

More  than  10  times 

202 

580 

More  than  20  times 

25 

160 

More  than  30  times 

4 

70 

More  than  40  times 

1 

32 

More  than  50  times 

none 

14 

A  similar  table  for  Dundee  gives  the  recidivists 
for  one  year  as  follows: 

Times  before  the  Court                                  Males  Females 

Twice 301  165 

Three  times 101  45 

Four  times 19  24 

Five  times 8  15 

Six  times 3  10 

Seven  times —  8 

Eight  times 1  5 

Nine  times —  3 

Ten  times —  2 

The  tendency  of  women  to  monopolise  the  field 
of  habitual  inebriety  among  the  working  classes  is 
an  important  fact  which  is  not  sufficiently  realised. 
It  is  due  mainly,  perhaps  wholly,  to  their  addiction 
to  spirits,  which  in  England  are  only  drunk  by  a  few 
special  classes  of  men  in  that  rank  of  life.  Habitual 
inebriety  among  men  is  far  more  common  in  the 
upper  and  middle  classes,  which  are  more  given  to 
spirits  and  less  to  beer.  However,  I  am  not  dis- 
cussing that  point  at  present.  I  only  wish  to  lay 
stress   on   the   prevalence   of  habitual   inebriety   in 


88        DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

women  as  a  reason  for  their  failure  to  improve  in 
sobriety  so  quickly  as  men. 

It  is  not  a  new  thing.  I  have  given  sufficient 
evidence  in  the  previous  chapters  to  show  that 
female  drinking  and  drunkenness  are  very  old- 
established  features  of  social  life  in  this  country. 
Dr.  Norman  Kerr's  belief  that  some  years  ago 
women  were  never  seen  in  the  public-house  is  a 
strange  delusion.  They  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
frequenting  that  institution  for  a  couple  of  centuries 
at  least,  and  apparently  in  far  greater  numbers  than 
in  the  present  day.  We  have  a  pretty  continuous 
record  of  their  habits  in  that  respect  for  the  last 
seventy  years  at  any  rate.  It  is  amusing  to  hear 
philanthropic  ladies  expatiating  on  the  *  modern  ' 
construction  of  public-houses,  the  separate  entrances, 
private  bars,  and  other  wily  devices  to  entice  women. 
They  do  not  know  that  the  same  things  were  described 
in  almost  identical  terms  from  the  magisterial  bench 
in  1830,  when  *  the  greater  number  '  of  cases  brought 
up  at  Bow  Street  were  women.  Then  there  was 
Mr.  Moore's  public-house  census  in  1834,  which  gave 
a  daily  average  for  each  house  of  2,749  customers, 
of  whom  1,114  were  women,  or  not  far  short  of  half. 
This  is  corroborated  by  the  police  returns.  Out  of 
38,440  persons  apprehended  16,780,  or  43  per  cent., 
were  women,  while  the  *  disorderlies  '  numbered 
5,178  women  to  3,382  men.  The  police  record  is 
continuous  since  then,  and  women  have  always  borne 
their  share  of  the  charge-sheet  year  by  year.  The 
question  has  cropped  up  at  each  of  the  inquiries 


FEMALE  DRUNKENNESS  89 

periodically  held,  and  evidence  of  their  drinking 
habits  has  always  been  forthcoming.  In  1854  a 
public-house  census  in  Manchester  gave  44,838 
female  to  78,168  male  customers,  and  a  Mr.  Balfour 
deposed  that  he  '  had  known  women  go  in  with 
children  in  their  arms  and  get  drunk  at  the  bar, 
and  had  seen  them  come  out  and  fall  down  with 
those  children.'  Again  in  1876  the  House  of  Lords 
Committee  thought  female  intemperance  was  increas- 
ing because  in  some  places  the  women  nearly 
equalled  the  men.  Apparently  they  were  not  aware 
that  the  same  state  of  things  had  been  demonstrated 
forty  years  before.  Indeed,  the  more  closely  the  facts 
are  examined  the  more  clearly  they  point  to  the 
conclusion  that  so  far  from  women  having  recently 
taken  to  frequenting  the  public-house  they  have 
never  frequented  it  less.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  Royal  Commission  should  have  given  currency 
and  authority  to  an  erroneous  opinion  which  a 
moderate  acquaintance  with  easily  accessible  facts 
would  have  enabled  them  to  correct. 


90         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE 

The  ostensible  agencies  by  which  temperance  has 
been  directly  promoted  in  this  country  are  the 
organised  societies  and  the  liquor  laws,  the  one 
acting  by  voluntary,  the  other  by  compulsory  means. 
Many  appear  to  think  them  the  only  agencies.  Thus 
they  speak  of  the  *  temperance  movement  '  and  *  tem- 
perance progress  '  as  synonymous  with  the  operations 
of  the  societies,  and  consider  a  '  reform  of  the  liquor 
laws  '  the  one  thing  needful  to  make  everybody  sober. 
It  is  worth  while,  therefore,  to  inquire  how  far  and 
in  what  way  the  societies  and  the  law  have  been 
instrumental  in  effecting  that  improvement  which  I 
have  already  shown  to  have  taken  place  during  the 
last  fifty  or  sixty  years. 

Temperance  Societies. — So  long  as  drunkenness 
has  existed  there  have  been  men  who  have  denounced 
and  combated  it — priests,  lawgivers,  sages,  and 
physicians — and  in  a  sense,  therefore,  the  *  temper- 
ance movement  '  is  as  old  as  the  evil  itself;  but  the 
institution  of  organised  societies  for  the  promotion  of 
sobriety  belongs  to  the  nineteenth  century.  Their 
history  in  this  country  falls  into  three  periods.    The 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  91 

first  covered  about  fifteen  years,  from  1829  to  1844, 
and  was  marked  by  great  activity  and  success;  the 
second,  of  about  equal  length,  from  1844  to  1860, 
was  a  period  of  reaction,  decline,  and  failure;  the 
third,  which  has  lasted  until  now,  brought  a  revival 
of  interest  and  activity,  but  on  somewhat  different 
lines.  It  will  suffice  for  the  present  purpose  to  run 
briefly  through  the  three  periods  and  point  out  their 
main  features. 

At  its  outset  the  movement  was  mainly  or  wholly 
religious  in  character,  at  least  religion  was  its  ani- 
mating principle.  According  to  Dr.  Dawson  Burns, 
whose  *  Temperance  History  * — a  sort  of  annual 
record  of  the  doings  of  the  societies — is  the  chief 
authority  on  the  subject,  we  originally  borrowed  the 
idea  from  America,  where  isolated  attempts  at 
organisation  were  carried  on  here  and  there  during 
the  first  quarter  of  last  century,  and  eventually  took 
definite  shape  in  the  American  Temperance  Society, 
founded  in  1826  by  ministers  of  religion.  They  were 
imitated  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edgar,  of  Belfast,  who, 
together  with  other  Presbyterian  clergymen,  estab- 
lished in  1829  the  *  Ulster  Temperance  Society,' 
the  first  central  body  of  the  kind  in  these  islands, 
although  for  some  years  small  semi-private  associa- 
tions had  been  formed  in  different  places  in  Ireland, 
of  which  the  earliest  is  said  to  have  been  a  club 
started  by  a  working  man  at  Skibbereen,  near  Cork. 
After  the  foundation  of  the  '  Ulster  Temperance 
Society  '  the  movement  developed  very  rapidly.  By 
the  end  of  the  year  there  were  twenty-five  societies 


92         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

in  Ireland,  with  800  members,  and  at  least  one  in 
Scotland,  on  the  Clyde.  In  1830  the  campaign 
advanced  to  several  towns  in  Yorkshire  and  Lanca- 
shire, with  Bradford  at  their  head.  London  followed, 
and  the  *  Temperance  Societies'  Record,'  a  paper 
published  in  Scotland,  stated  in  its  report  for  the 
year  that  they  had  then  127  societies,  with  23,000 
members,  and  60,000  associated  abstainers.  These 
figures,  surprising  as  they  are  for  a  movement  so 
young,  were  said  to  be  doubled  in  the  following  year, 
and  though  estimates  of  the  kind  must  always  be 
accepted  with  caution,  it  is  quite  clear  that  the  cause 
did  make  extraordinarily  rapid  progress  in  those 
early  days.  From  about  1831  England  appears  to 
have  taken  the  lead,  and  soon  outstripped  her  earlier 
competitors  in  the  field.  In  that  year  an  important 
central  body  was  formed  in  London  under  the  title 
of  *  The  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,* 
with  Bishop  Blomfield  for  president,  and  various 
other  bishops  and  dignitaries  as  vice-presidents.  On 
her  accession  to  the  throne  in  1837,  Queen  Victoria 
gave  additional  prestige  to  this  society,  and  a  new 
impetus  to  the  cause  it  represented,  by  becoming 
its  patron.  The  number  of  abstainers  in  the  United 
Kingdom  at  that  time  was  estimated  to  be  about 
170,000,  of  whom  150,000  were  credited  to  England 
and  Wales,  while  Ireland,  the  original  parent  of  the 
movement,  only  contributed  5,000;  but  the  day  of 
Father  Mathew  was  still  to  come.  Meantime  a 
little  rift  had  already  appeared  within  the  lute,  which 
was  destined  to  turn  the  harmony  into  discord,  and 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  93 

eventually  to  discredit  the  temperance  societies  to 
an  extent  which  very  few  of  their  adherents  appear 
to  realise  down  to  the  present  day.  The  pledge 
originally  required  of  members  only  committed  them 
to  abstinence  from  distilled  liquors,  which  were 
rightly  thought  to  be  the  great  means  of  demoralisa- 
tion. Fermented  liquors — beer,  wine,  cider,  and  so 
on — were  permitted  as  comparatively  harmless.  In 
other  words,  temperance  was  really  the  object  aimed 
at,  and  moderate  drinking  was  not  made  into  a  sin. 
But  about  1832  the  spirit  of  fanaticism  began  to 
appear  in  that  home  of  fanatics  the  North  of  England, 
and  demanded  the  inclusion  of  all  alcoholic  drinks 
in  the  ban.  Total  abstinence,  so  inaugurated,  soon 
spread  with  an  outburst  of  spasmodic  enthusiasm, 
and    was    not    a    little    helped    by    the    catch-word 

*  teetotal,'   which   is   merely   an   intensive   form   of 

*  total  '  colloquially  used  in  the  North.  The  British 
and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,  however,  declined 
to  fall  in  with  the  extremists,  whereupon  a  quarrel 
ensued,  and  led  to  a  partial  break-up  of  the  society, 
some  members  of  which  formed  a  new  and  rival 
organisation  on  teetotal  principles.  About  this  time 
Father  Mathew  was  entering  upon  his  great  crusade 
in  Ireland,  and  under  his  sensational  influence  the 
total  abstinence  movement  for  a  time  carried  all 
before  it. 

The  accounts  of  Father  Mathew 's  mission  from 
1838  to  1842  read  like  a  fable.  He  made  teetotalers 
as  the  great  Powers  make  soldiers,  by  the  million, 
only  much  faster ;  and  if  there  had  been  any  staying- 


94         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

power  in  the  business,  the  liquor  question  would 
have  been  settled  out  of  hand.  Wherever  he  went 
a  veritable  fury  of  sacrifice  appears  to  have  seized 
the  people  of  Ireland,  though  the  estimated  number 
of  converts  must  be  discounted  by  the  equal  fury 
of  exaggeration  which  seized  the  chroniclers  of  his 
progress.  Thus  in  1839  he  is  said  to  have  adminis- 
tered 30,000  pledges  in  one  day  at  Clonmel,  and 
from  100,000  to  150,000  in  two  days  at  Limerick. 
Unless  pledges  were  taken  by  acclamation  it  would 
be  physically  impossible  to  administer  one  quarter 
the  number  stated.  In  1840  he  is  said  to  have  added 
748,000  to  the  ranks,  or  an  average  of  over  2,000  per 
diem  for  every  day  in  the  year,  and  by  1841  the 
number  of  total  abstainers  in  Ireland  was  reckoned 
at  4,647,000,  or  considerably  more  than  the  entire 
adult  population.  Any  one  may  believe  it  who  likes ; 
but  whatever  the  exact  truth  may  be,  it  is  certain 
that  this  homely  village  priest  did  for  a  time  meet 
with  a  success  beside  which  the  united  efforts  of  all 
the  other  organisers  of  temperance,  before  and  after 
him,  fade  into  insignificance.  In  three  years  the 
consumption  of  spirits  in  Ireland  was  actually  reduced 
from  10,815,000  gallons  to  5,290,000  gallons,  and 
drunkenness  practically  abolished.  An  elderly  lady 
described  to  me  the  other  day  how  she  travelled 
through  Ireland  about  that  time  without  seeing  a 
single  drunken  man,  and  how  striking  was  the 
contrast  between  the  perfect  sobriety  of  Cork  and 
the  rolling  intoxication  of  Bristol,  which  met  her 
eyes  on  landing. 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  95 

Father  Mathew's  statue  stands  to-day  in  Patrick 
Street,  but  his  face  is  happily  turned  towards  the 
bridge,  so  that  he  cannot  see  the  numerous  liquor- 
shops  which  now  adorn  that  noble  thoroughfare.  His 
mission  was  a  flash  in  the  pan,  a  sudden  outburst  of 
Celtic  zeal,  which  burnt  too  fiercely  to  last,  and 
already  the  reaction  set  in  when  his  back  was  turned 
in  1843.  That  year  he  came  to  England  and  made 
a  considerable  impression — a  greater  impression 
than  any  one  else  has  ever  done  in  the  same  cause — 
but  nothing  like  his  triumphal  progress  in  Ireland. 
The  people  everywhere  were  growing  tired  of  the 
violent  teetotal  propaganda,  which  had  in  turn  killed 
the  more  moderate  and  promising  policy  of  the 
early  thirties.  The  whole  cause  declined  and  lan- 
guished. At  the  beginning  of  1849  it  could  no 
longer  support  even  a  weekly  journal,  which  had  not 
failed  for  the  previous  twelve  years,  and  in  1850  the 
British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society  perished 
of  inanition  on  the  resignation  of  Bishop  Blomfield, 
while  the  National  Temperance  Society  (the  chief 
teetotal  body)  found  its  *  sphere  of  operations  greatly 
restricted  from  diminished  subscriptions,'  and  had 
presently  to  be  reorganised  under  another  name. 
Then  other  organisations  came  to  grief  one  after 
another  and  dissolved.  From  America  came  the 
same  dismal  tale.  *  The  cause  in  this  country,' 
wrote  Mr.  J.  B.  Gough  in  1857,  *  is  in  a  depressed 
state.  The  Maine  law  is  a  dead  letter  everywhere. 
More  liquor  is  sold  than  I  ever  knew  before  in 
Massachusetts,   and  in  other  States  it  is  about  as 


96         DRINK,  TEIVrPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

bad  '  (Dawson  Burns) .  In  spite  of  this  discourag- 
ing account  of  the  Maine  prohibition  law,  only- 
passed  in  1851,  from  the  pen  of  a  zealous  advocate 
of  the  cause,  the  United  Kingdom  Alliance,  which 
had  been  formed  in  Manchester  in  1853  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  a  similar  law  passed  in  England, 
pursued  its  way  with  that  enviable  indifference  to 
awkward  facts  which  has  characterised  it  up  to  the 
present  day,  and  it  was  rewarded  before  long  by  a 
distinct  revival  of  interest  in  the  temperance  cause. 

This,  the  third,  period  in  the  history  of  the 
societies  began  about  1860.  It  was  marked  by  the 
introduction  of  several  new  elements.  The  religious 
motive,  which  was  the  mainspring  of  the  original 
movement,  as  I  have  already  said,  still  played  a 
prominent  part,  and  that  has  since  become  more 
important  again  through  the  strong  lead  taken  by 
the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society;  but  it 
was  accompanied,  and  at  first  overshadowed,  by 
other  interests,  all  borrowed  from  America.  Besides 
the  political  element  represented  by  the  United 
Kingdom  Alliance,  there  were  the  benefit  societies — 
the  Sons  of  Temperance,  Rechabites,^  and  Sons  of 
the  Phoenix — appealing  especially  to  the  class  of 
artisans  and  small  tradesmen,  and  somewhat  later 
the  Order  of  Good  Templars  introduced  from  the 

*  The  Order  of  Reehabites  was  founded  in  1835,  but  did  not 
become  important  until  the  later  period.  It  is  now  a  large  and 
flourishing  society  with  over  100,000  adult  and  juvenile  mem- 
bers in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  Sons  of  Temperance  number 
32,000  *  adult  *  members.  These  and  the  figures  given  on  page 
08  were  obtained  in  1896. 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  97 

United  States  in  1868.     This  appears  to  be  a  sort 
of   masonic   brotherhood,   which   aims   generally   at 
furthering   the   cause   of   temperance    by   investing 
it  with  the  mysterious  attractions  of  a  secret  society. 
They  all  throve  more  or  less  on  the  revival  of  the 
sixties,    and    there    were    other    signs    of    renewed 
activity,  such  as  the  foundation  of  a  Police  Tem- 
perance Society,  a  Working  Men's  Teetotal  League, 
and  so  forth.    The  Church  of  England  Society  was 
formed  in  1862,  and  was  followed  a  few  years  later  by 
a  movement  among  the  Roman  Catholics  under  the 
influence  of  Cardinal  Manning.     In  short,   the  in- 
terest became  pretty  general,  and  not  a  little  of  it 
must  be  ascribed  to  the  great  popular  success  of 
Mrs.  Henry  Wood's  prize  story,  *  Danesbury  House,' 
published  in  1860.     I   have  not  read  this  cleverly 
written  tale  since  boyhood,  but,  if  I  remember  rightly, 
Mrs.  Henry  Wood  made  all  her  characters  succeed  or 
fail  in  life  precisely  in  proportion  to  their  indulgence 
in  alcoholic  liquors,  and  rather  pointed  the  teetotal 
moral  that  any  one  who  takes  a  single  glass  of  wine 
or  beer  has  already  placed  himself  in  the  grasp  of  an 
inexorable  power,  and  can  only  be  saved  from  de- 
struction by  a  tremendous  struggle.     At  any  rate, 
uncompromising  teetotalism  held  the   field   at  that 
time,   with   the   assistance  of   the   various   interests 
enumerated,    and    uncompromising    teetotalism    has 
remained  the  battle-cry  of  the   societies,   with  one 
notable  exception,  ever  since.     The  history  of  most 
of  them  for  the  last  twenty  years,  so  far  as  it  can  be 
made  out  from  the  scanty  materials  available,  has 


98         DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

been  uneventful.  If  they  have  never  sunk  to  the 
point  of  collapse  reached  in  the  fifties,  neither  have 
they  risen  to  anything  like  the  numerical  and  moral 
success  of  Father  Mathew's  time.  There  have 
been  unseemly  quarrels  in  the  ranks  here  and  there, 
secessions  and  so  forth,  and  some  societies  have 
undergone  curious  fluctuations.  For  instance,  the 
Good  Templars,  who  numbered  over  200,000  mem- 
bers in  England  and  Wales  in  1873,  appear  to  have 
sunk  to  97,000  in  1879.  I  endeavoured  a  few  years 
ago  to  obtain  the  data  for  something  like  an  estimate 
of  the  total  temperance  roll-call  at  the  present 
time,  but  without  success.  Accurate  information 
is  only  forthcoming  about  a  few  of  the  organisa- 
tions; all  the  rest  is  guess-work.  The  following 
figures  were  kindly  furnished  me  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society, 
which  I  take  to  be  by  far  the  largest  and  most 
flourishing  body : 

General  or  Temperance  Section       .        .       53,393 

Total   Abstaining 171,637 

Juvenile 384,289 


Total .        .     609,319 

The  great  preponderance  of  the  juvenile  section, 
which  will  strike  the  reader,  holds  good,  and  in  a 
higher  degree,  of  the  temperance  army  generally. 
Its  numerical  strength  is  made  up  of  children,  who 
constitute  four-fifths  of  the  whole,  according  to 
Mr.  Malins.  This  explains  the  discrepancy  between 
its   real   electoral  insignificance,   as  proved  at   the 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  99 

general  election  of  1895,  and  the  prodigious  extent 
of  membership  claimed  by  its  advocates.  All  the 
societies,  including  the  friendly  and  other  orders, 
appear  to  have  large  juvenile  sections,  and  then  there 
are  the  Bands  of  Hope,  which  run  nominally  into 
millions.  But  bearing  this  in  mind,  one  must  still 
believe  that  even  so  the  numbers  are  enormously 
exaggerated.  According  to  Mr.  Malins,  one  person 
in  eight  out  of  the  whole  population  is  a  teetotaler; 
other  authorities,  I  understand,  claim  seven  and  a 
half  million  adherents  to  the  cause,  making  the 
proportion  about  one  in  five.  How  does  this  agree 
with  ordinary  experience?  For  my  own  part,  out 
of  the  many  hundred  men,  women,  and  children 
I  know  in  all  classes  of  life,  there  are  only  two  or 
three  teetotalers.  Where  are  the  vast  hordes  of 
abstainers  to  be  found?  In  what  class  of  life? 
Certainly  not  among  the  poor,  else  what  would 
become  of  the  public-house?  and  just  as  certainly 
not  among  the  upper  and  middle  classes.  I  beg  to 
suggest  that  a  Parliamentary  return  on  the  subject 
would  be  useful  in  showing  us  where  we  are,  and 
where  the  societies  are,  for  at  present  nobody  knows. 
In  making  these  remarks  I  would  by  no  means 
be  understood  to  imply  a  sneer  at  the  societies. 
Their  development  of  the  juvenile  work  is  wholly  in 
accord  with  their  original  aim,  which  was  rather  to 
prevent  than  to  rescue  from  vice.  From  the  tee- 
total point  of  view,  which  regards  taking  a  glass  of 
liquor  as  putting  one's  foot  over  the  edge  of  a  preci- 
pice,   nothing    can    be    more    efficacious    than    the 


100      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

policy  of  keeping  the  young  at  a  safe  distance.  On 
the  other  hand,  those  who  disbelieve  in  the  precipice 
theory,  and  think  self-control  the  manlier  and  more 
moral  aim,  wiU  consider  organised  juvenile  absti- 
nence as  at  best  a  doubtful  gain.  They  will  see  in 
it  merely  a  movement  for  making  little  prigs  of  the 
children  of  respectable  parents,  who  are  either  in  no 
real  danger  as  it  is  of  ever  becoming  drunkards,  or, 
in  so  far  as  they  are  in  danger,  will  not  be  prevented 
from  succumbing,  when  they  gain  their  liberty,  by 
shackles  artificially  imposed  in  childhood.  The 
question  of  juveniles  is  thus  a  matter  of  opinion; 
the  gain  may  be  denied  or  affirmed,  but  it  cannot  be 
proved  either  way. 

Putting  them  aside,  therefore,  and  coming  to 
the  comparatively  limited  operations  of  the  societies 
among  adults,  I  cannot  find  any  evidence  that 
their  direct  influence  on  the  habits  of  the  people 
has  been  at  all  important,  with  the  exception  of 
two  or  three  special  classes.  Father  Mathew  no 
doubt  produced  a  great  and  tangible  effect,  which 
was  not  altogether  so  transient  as  it  appeared, 
and  the  general  fall  of  the  drink  barometer  during 
the  height  of  the  first  temperance  period  was  no 
mere  coincidence,  though  other  causes,  as  I  have 
already  shown,  co-operated  with  the  movement. 
But  during  the  last  thirty  years  the  failure  of  the 
teetotal  propaganda  to  capture  any  large  section  of 
the  population  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  statistics 
of  consumption.  The  people  have  drunk  more  or 
less,    according    to    the    state    of    their    pockets   at 


THE  FORCES  0?  TFJ^l^ERANCP  • '  J  t)l 

different  times,  but  the  net  result  has  been  to  leave 
the  general  level  of  consumption  almost  unchanged. 
What  has  happened  is  that  many  of  the  grossest 
abuses  of  the  traffic  have  been  diminished  or  re- 
moved, and  that  there  is  more  moderate  and  less 
excessive  drinking  than  there  was.  If  this  had  been 
the  object  of  the  societies  they  could  claim  a  large 
share  of  the  credit;  but  they  chose  to  go  upon 
total  abstinence,  and  that  has  clearly  failed  in  its 
immediate  effects.  In  truth,  they  hardly  touch  the 
mass  of  the  people  at  all.  They  are  composed,  for 
the  most  part,  of  earnest  persons  belonging  to  the 
middle  and  lower-middle  classes,  eminently  respect- 
able, and  never  in  any  danger  whatever  of  falling 
\dctims  to  drunkenness.  They  are  animated — to 
use  Dr.  Dawson  Burns 's  words — '  by  a  desire  not  so 
much  to  benefit  themselves  as  to  do  good  to  others  ' ; 
and  all  honour  to  them  for  it.  But  the  others  refuse 
to  listen  to  any  appreciable  extent,  and  the  chief 
reason  is  that  they  resent  the  whole  principle  of 
total  abstinence  as  a  needless  interference  with  one 
of  the  good  things  of  life  and  an  insult  to  their 
self-respect.  The  very  name  *  temperance  '  has 
long  been  a  by-word  among  educated  and  uneducated 
alike  by  being  usurped  to  cover  a  bigoted  and  self- 
righteous  propaganda  from  which  everything  tem- 
perate was  eliminated.  The  Church  of  England 
Society  stands  out  as  having  recognised  this  fact, 
which  is  known  to  every  one  save  teetotalers;  and 
its  great  and  growing  influence  must  be  attributed 
in  a  large  measure  to  its  moderate  attitude.     It  is 


10f2      DtliNE:,  .TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

one  of  the  youngest  of  the  societies,  having  been 
formed  on  its  present  basis  in  1873,  but  it  is  already 
the  largest,  I  believe,  and  by  far  the  most  influential. 
When  its  really  temperate  character  is  better  under- 
stood, and  it  has  shaken  itself  free  from  the  damaging 
associations  unfortunately  connected  in  the  mind  of 
the  public  with  the  name  *  Temperance  Society,'  a 
great  extension  of  its  activity  may  be  confidently 
expected.  True  temperance  should  be,  and  indeed 
already  is,  a  national  cause;  total  abstinence  neither 
is,  nor  seems  likely  to  be. 

Liquor  Legislation. — Those  who  are  accustomed 
to  hear  the  liquor  question  spoken  of  as  a  thing 
terribly  neglected  by  the  Legislature  may  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  during  the  first  fifty  years  of  the 
late  reign  at  least  twenty-five  Acts  of  Parliament 
were  passed  for  dealing  with  some  aspect  or  other  of 
the  traffic,  exclusive  of  Inland  Revenue  Acts.  Is 
there  any  other  question  which  can  show  an  average 
record  of  one  Act  every  two  years?  Considering 
also  the  number  of  Select  Committees  of  both 
Houses  and  Royal  Commissions  that  have  sat  upon 
it.  Parliament  cannot  be  fairly  accused  of  neglect. 
But,  it  is  said,  the  legislation  has  been  a  failure. 
That  depends  on  what  was  expected  of  it;  and  if  its 
promoters  did  expect  too  much,  those  who  are  most 
anxious  for  fresh  measures  are  hardly  in  a  position 
to  bring  that  charge  against  them,  to  judge  from 
their  own  utterances.  The  Liquor  Laws  did  not 
abolish  drunkenness,  and,  if  they  were  expected  to  do 
so,  they  were  so  far  a  failure;  but  some  of  them  did 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  103 

a  great  deal  more  good  than  is  generally  supposed, 
and  contributed  most  materially  to  the  improvement 
I  have  previously  described.  I  will  enumerate,  in 
chronological  order,  the  most  important  Acts  bearing 
on  the  present  question,  with  special  reference  to 
those  which  have  been  attended  with  beneficial 
results. 

1834.  An  Act  designed  to  check  the  unfortunate 
results  which  had  attended  the  Duke  of  Wellington's 
Beer  Act  of  1830.  That  measure  had  practically 
thrown  the  beer  trade  open  to  anybody  who  chose 
to  start  a  pothouse.  The  object  was  to  encourage 
the  consumption  of  beer  and  cider  in  the  hope  of 
diminishing  spirit-drinking;  but  the  immediate 
result  was  to  multiply  the  number  of  disorderly  little 
beer-shops  without  in  the  least  depressing  the  spirit 
traffic.  The  Act  of  1834  made  a  magistrate's  certifi- 
cate compulsory  before  a  license  could  be  obtained,  and 
did  something  to  check  the  growth  of  the  evil.  The 
point  is  interesting  for  the  light  it  throws  on  free 
trade  in  liquor,  which  some  people  advocate  to-day. 

1839.  An  Act  for  closing  public-houses  in  London 
from  midnight  on  Saturday  until  12  o'clock  on 
Sunday  morning.  I  have  already  drawn  attention 
to  it  and  its  effects  (p.  61),  and  need  not  repeat 
the  evidence  quoted  from  the  House  of  Commons 
inquiry  of  1834  on  the  abominable  scenes  which 
used  to  take  place  on  Sunday  morning.  Saturday 
night  and  Sunday  morning  were  the  occasions 
of  more  drunkenness  than  the  rest  of  the  week  put 
together;     and    this    Act    worked    wonders.      The 


104      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

metropolitan  '  drunks  '  fell  gradually  from  21,237  in 
1838  to  8,321  in  1844.  That  remarkable  improve- 
ment was  not  all  due  to  the  law,  as  I  have  pointed 
out  before,  because  the  temperance  crusade  attained 
its  zenith  in  the  very  same  period  and  great  distress 
prevailed  simultaneously,  but  the  beneficial  effects 
of  the  measure  on  public  order  were  conclusively 
established  before  the  House  of  Commons  Com- 
mittee of  1854,  by  the  unanimous  testimony  of 
a  crowd  of  witnesses,  including  publicans,  police, 
working  men,  and  temperance  agents.  The  case 
seems  to  me  most  instructive,  and  a  valuable  proof 
of  the  efficacy  of  a  reasonable  restriction  of  hours. 

1840.  The  Beer-house  Act  was  further  amended 
in  the  direction  of  greater  stringency.  Licenses 
were  only  to  be  granted  to  the  real  resident  occupier 
of  premises  under  a  property  qualification  and  other 
conditions.  The  object  was  to  weed  out  the  specu- 
lative and  poverty-stricken  pothouses,  which  have 
always  been,  and  still  are,  the  scene  of  the  worst 
abuses. 

1842.  An  Act  providing  greater  facilities  for  the 
transfer  of  licenses. 

1845.  A  Gaming  Act,  almost  inoperative,  as 
shown  before  the  inquiry  of  1854,  because  the  police 
had  no  power  of  entry. 

1854-55.  Hours  of  Sunday-closing  fixed  generally. 
A  valuable  measure.  The  consumption  of  spirits 
fell  by  four  million  gallons.  In  Scotland  the  im- 
portant Forbes  Mackenzie  Act  came  into  operation 
in  1854.     It  introduced  various  licensing  reforms, 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  105 

and  total  Sunday-closing.  Up  to  1828  there  had  been 
Sunday-closing  under  the  common  law,  but  after 
that  there  appears  to  have  been  no  closing  time,  and 
the  state  of  things  was  like  that  in  London  up  to 
1839.  Sunday-closing  has  worked  well  in  Scotland, 
though  it  gave  some  trouble  at  first. 

1860.  Mr.  Gladstone's  celebrated  Wine  and 
Refreshment  Houses  Act,  authorising  *  grocers*  li- 
censes,' which  are  not  grocers'  licenses  at  all. 
According  to  the  Act,  every  person  keeping  a  shop 
is  entitled  to  take  out  a  license  to  retail  wine  for  off- 
consumption.  Further,  licenses  were  required  for 
all  refreshment  houses,  and  eating-house  keepers 
were  entitled  to  take  out  wine  licenses  for  consump- 
tion on  the  premises.  All  these  provisions  have  been 
heartily  abused,  and  the  Act  has  occasioned  much 
controversy.  The  real  crime  of  the  measure  is  that  it 
encourages  moderate  drinking,  as  it  was  intended  to 
do.   Poor  Mr.  Gladstone  was  never  sound  on  that  point. 

1861.  A  further  plunge  into  crime  in  the  shape 
of  an  Act  permitting  the  retail  sale  of  spirits  by  the 
bottle  for  off-consumption,  and  also  the  sale  of  very 
small  beer  (at  not  more  than  l^d.  the  quart)  in  any 
house  or  shop  under  a  five-shilling  license.  These 
measures  are  more  doubtful,  especially  the  latter, 
which  seems  needless  and  foolish. 

1862.  A  Scotch  amending  Act,  intended  among 
other  things  to  check  the  illicit  traffic  which  had 
been  stimulated  by  Sunday-closing.  It  also  imposed 
penalties  for  drunkenness. 

1864.  A  Closing  Act,  forbidding  public-houses  to 


106      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

be  opened  again  after  the  legal  hour  until  4  a.m. 
This  was  a  useful  Act,  and  necessary  to  prevent 
evasion  of  the  law.  It  was  amended  in  the  following 
year  by  provisions  for  suspending  the  regulation  in 
special  cases.  Also  a  Beer-houses  Act  for  Ireland, 
dealing  chiefly  with  beer  licenses  for  *  off  '-con- 
sumption. 

1869.  Wine  and  Beer-house  Act — an  important 
licensing  measure.  The  principal  provisions  were; 
(1)  Retail  licenses  not  to  be  granted  without  a 
certificate  given  annually  by  justices;  (2)  Certificate 
might  be  refused  on  account  of  (a)  failure  of  appli- 
cant to  produce  satisfactory  evidence  of  good 
character;  (h)  house  in  question  being  disorderly; 
(c)  previous  forfeiture;  (d)  applicant  or  his  house 
not  being  duly  qualified  by  law.  These  measures 
had  a  most  beneficial  effect,  which  was  further 
enhanced  by  the  legislation  of  1872  and  1874.  They 
may  therefore  be  taken  together. 

1872.  Licensing  Act — the  most  important  meas- 
ure of  the  century.  It  contained  ninety  clauses, 
of  which  the  most  pertinent  may  be  summarised  as 
dealing  with  the  following  points: 

(1)  Prohibition  of  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors 
without  license — penalty  for  first  offence  a  fine  of 
50?.  or  one  month's  imprisonment;  for  second 
offence  1002.  or  three  months,  with  forfeiture  of 
license  and  disqualification  for  five  years;  for  third 
offence  lOOZ.  or  six  months,  and  unlimited  disqualifi- 
cation. 

(2)  Prohibition  of  sale  of  spirits  to  persons  under 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  107 

sixteen  years  of  age — penalty  205.  for  first  and  405. 
for  second  offence. 

(3)  Penalty  for  being  found  drunk  in  any  high- 
way or  other  public  place,  or  on  any  licensed 
premises,  up  to  IO5.  for  first  offence,  205.  for  second, 
and  405.  for  third.  Penalty  for  riotous  or  dis- 
orderly behaviour  while  drunk,  up  to  405. 

(4)  Penalty  for  permitting  drunkenness  or  vio- 
lence on  premises,  or  for  selling  liquor  to  a  drunken 
person,  101.  for  first  offence,  and  201.  for  the  second, 
with  compulsory  endorsement  of  license  (altered  in 
1874  to  optional  endorsement). 

(5)  Penalty  for  harbouring  constables,  and  for 
permitting  them  to  drink  or  supplying  them  with 
drink,  101.  and  201. 

(6)  Penalty  for  permitting  gaming,  101.  and  201. 

(7)  Power  given  to  publicans  to  exclude  any  one 
who  is  drunken,  violent,  quarrelsome,  or  disorderly. 

(8)  Forfeiture  of  license  on  repeated  conviction; 
on  the  third  offence  recorded  disqualification  of  the 
man  and  the  house. 

1874.  Licensing  Act,  of  which  the  chief  pro- 
visions related  to  the  power  of  the  police  to  enter 
licensed  premises,  the  fixing  of  hours  of  closing  as  at 
present,  the  exemption  of  bona  fide  travellers,  the 
mitigation  of  some  of  the  1872  regulations,  and 
adulteration. 

These  Acts  were  markedly  successful.  The 
report  of  the  House  of  Lords  Select  Committee  of 
1876  stated  that  *  recent  legislation  has  had  a  bene- 
ficial  effect  throughout  the   country   by   producing 


108      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

good  order  in  the  streets,  by  abolishing  the  class  of 
beer-houses,  and  by  improving  the  character  of 
licensed  houses  generally/  Further,  '  the  process 
of  weeding  out  the  most  disorderly  beer-houses  has 
taken  effect  throughout  the  country.'  A  large 
number  of  witnesses  from  various  places  gave  evi- 
dence of  the  beneficial  effects  of  legislation.  For 
their  opinions  see  Chapter  VII.,  on  '  The  Principles 
of  Liquor  Legislation  '  (p.  166). 

The  numerous  Acts  which  have  been  passed 
since  1874  relate  chiefly  to  minor  points,  but  a  few 
must  be  mentioned. 

1876-77.  Scotch  Acts,  extending  to  Scotland 
some  of  the  provisions  of  the  1872-74  English  Acts. 

1878.  Sunday-closing  in  Ireland,  except  in  Dub- 
lin, Belfast,  Cork,  Limerick,  and  Waterford;  had  a 
good  effect. 

1881.  Sunday-closing  in  Wales.  In  the  smaller 
places  it  appears  to  have  been  quite  successful,  but 
in  Cardiff  it  caused  much  trouble  by  forcing  illicit 
trade,  in  the  shape  of  clubs  and  shebeens.  The 
women  of  the  working  classes  complained  bitterly  of 
it:  *  The  men  used  to  come  home  at  ten  o'clock, 
now  they  come  at  three  or  four  in  the  morning.' 
This  trouble  has  now  been  largely  overcome,  but 
there  is  still  much  opposition  to  the  measure. 

1882.  An  Act  giving  justices  full  discretion  over 
*  off  '  beer  licenses. 

1883.  An  Act  prohibiting  the  payment  of  work- 
men in  public-houses — a  useful  measure,  far  too 
long  delayed. 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE  109 

1885.  An  Act  defining  beer  for  Inland  Revenue 
purposes  as  *  any  liquor  which  is  made  or  sold  as  a 
description  of  beer,  or  as  a  substitute  for  beer, 
containing  more  than  2  per  cent,  of  alcohol.'  Beer 
may  be  made  of  almost  anything  under  the  Acts. 
But  the  analyses  under  the  Local  Government 
Board  show  that  deleterious  substitutes  are  not 
used,  and  that  the  only  serious  adulteration  is  by 
water  with  sugar,  and  possibly  salt,  but  the  latter  is 
doubtful. 

1886.  An  Act  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquor  to 
persons  under  thirteen  for  consumption  on  the 
premises. 

1887.  A  Scotch  Act,  giving  local  authorities 
power  to  close  earlier  (10  p.m.),  except  in  towns  of 
over  50,000  inhabitants. 

1897.  A  further  Scotch  amending  Act,  relating  to 
licenses  to  retail  *  sweets.' 

1901.  Child  Messenger  Act,  prohibiting  sale  to  chil- 
dren under  fourteen  for  '  off  '-consumption,  except 
in  sealed  vessels. 

The  reader  who  has  waded  through  the  foregoing 
list  will  admit,  I  think,  that  the  Legislature  has 
neither  shirked  the  liquor  question  nor  wholly  failed 
in  dealing  with  it,  in  spite  of  numerous  blunders. 
Of  the  two  agencies  I  have  been  discussing,  the  law 
seems  to  have  more  tangible  results  to  its  credit  than 
the  societies.  But  in  truth  it  is  only  a  superficial 
view  which  would  regard  these  two  things  as  repre- 
senting the  forces  of  temperance.  Many  far  wider 
and  deeper  influences  have  been  at  work  during  the 


110      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

period  under  discussion.  Great  changes  have  passed 
over  the  country — changes  religious,  political,  social, 
economical,  intellectual,  and  scientific;  and  not  one 
but  has  in  some  degree  touched  the  liquor  question. 
The  activity  of  the  Churches,  and  particularly  the 
regeneration  of  the  Church  of  England,  has  done 
much  to  raise  the  standard  of  morality.  The  pos- 
session of  political  power  has  quickened  the  sense  of 
responsibility  in  the  people,  and  taught  them  more 
self-respect.  Conversely,  the  social  and  industrial 
upheaval  has  forced  employers  of  labour,  landowners, 
and  the  upper  classes  generally  to  recognise,  as  they 
never  did  before,  their  duty  to  those  around  them 
and  dependent  on  them.  The  physical  conditions  of 
life  have  been  improved  among  the  working  classes 
by  the  entirely  new  science  of  hygiene  and  by  the 
cheapening  of  food.  Their  mental  condition  has 
been  equally  affected  by  facilities  for  locomotion, 
by  education,  and  the  development  of  the  press  and 
other  cheap  literature.  In  this  connection,  the  testi- 
mony of  a  working  man,  given  so  far  back  as  1854, 
is  worth  quoting.  He  had  spoken  emphatically  of 
the  diminution  of  drunkenness  in  his  own  class,  and 
was  asked  to  what  he  attributed  it.  *  There  are  a 
great  many  books  published/  he  said,  '  periodicals 
and  that  like,  which  helps  to  open  their  understand- 
ing, and  they  get  to  know  better.  They  have  other 
pursuits,  and  they  enjoy  themselves  more  at  home. 
Very  many  take  in  some  little  periodical  or  other. ' 

And    there    is    something    more    than    all    these 
things,  something  which  is  partly  formed  by  them, 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE        111 

but  is  yet  distinct,  which  partly  acts  through  them, 
and  at  the  same  time  more  directly.  I  mean  what 
we  call  public  opinion.  It  is  an  impalpable  sort  of 
thing,  but  very  real,  and  by  far  the  most  powerful  of 
all  forces  in  a  free  country.  The  enactment,  and 
still  more  the  administration,  of  the  law  depend 
upon  it.  The  societies  depend  upon  it.  As  Dr. 
Dawson  Burns  says,  *  Temperance  reform  has  suc- 
ceeded as  far  as  the  willingness  of  society  to  adopt 
it  has  permitted  it  to  succeed.  How  much  farther 
could  it  succeed?  .  .  .  Temperance  history  is  a 
record  of  success  so  far  as  men  have  been  ready 
to  co-operate  in  that  reform.*  Now  public  opinion 
is  the  outcome  of  many  influences,  and  that  is  true 
in  this  particular  question  no  less  than  in  others. 
There  are  the  general  influences  mentioned  above, 
and  certain  special  ones,  including  the  temperance 
societies  themselves.  Their  indirect  effects  in  helping 
to  form  public  opinion  have  been  most  important. 
That  has,  in  fact,  been  their  real  work  far  more  than 
the  enrolment  of  members  and  the  administration  of 
individual  pledges.  As  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  said  a 
few  years  ago  at  a  diocesan  meeting  of  the  C.E.T.S., 
their  task  is  to  *  educate  public  opinion.'  It  is,  and 
always  has  been.  They  have  pushed  the  question  to 
the  front,  and  insisted  on  attention  being  given  to  it. 
They  have  stimulated  the  public  conscience.  And 
possibly  the  extremists,  by  their  very  violence,  have 
done  this  most  effectively  up  to  a  certain  point.  The 
world  is  made  up  of  all  sorts,  and  in  the  day  of  stag- 
nation a  handful  of  fanatics  may  do  good  service  by 


112       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

stimulating  that  progress  which  is  the  only  alterna- 
tive to  decay.  If  they  had  their  way  altogether  they 
would  probably  do  a  great  deal  of  harm.  But  as 
there  is  not  the  remotest  chance  of  that,  let  us  cheer- 
fully credit  them  with  a  fair  measure  of  good. 

Much  as  the  temperance  organisations  have 
done,  however,  to  keep  us  all  alive  to  the  evils  of 
intemperance,  there  has  been  another  influence,  I 
think,  working  more  quietly  but  more  surely,  and 
with  more  practical  effect.  Drinking  is  largely  a 
matter  of  social  usage;  the  majority  of  people  di'ink 
much  or  little  according  to  the  custom  of  the  society 
in  which  they  live.  And  in  matters  of  social  usage 
every  class  is  apt  to  be  strongly  influenced  by 
the  class  above,  into  which  it  is  for  ever  aspiring 
to  climb.  Democratic  as  we  may  affect  to  be,  the 
lower  orders  persistently  imitate  the  higher  so  far  as 
they  know  how;  indeed,  the  more  democratic  they 
are,  the  more  they  imitate,  to  show  their  equality. 
Now,  it  is  the  fact  that  up  to  the  early  part  of  last 
century  social  custom  not  only  permitted  but  en- 
couraged drunkenness  among  the  upper  classes,  who 
regularly  and  publicly  set  the  example  to  the  lower; 
and  that  a  complete  revolution  has  since  taken  place 
in  this  respect.^  It  began  before  the  '  temperance 
movement,'  and  went  on  steadily,  independent  of 

*  My  mother,  who  is  83,  tells  me  that  in  country  houses  when 
she  was  a  young  girl  the  gentlemen  always  came  to  the  draw- 
ing-room intoxicated  after  dinner.  No  one  thought  anything 
of  it.  Of  course  the  practice  of  ladies  withdrawing  after  dinner 
(hence  the  term  *  drawing '-room)  was  originally  necessitated 
by  the  masculine  orgies.  I  think  smoking  has  a  good  deal  to 
do  with  modem  dinner-table  moderation. 


THE  FORCES  OF  TEMPERANCE        113 

that  propaganda,  and  apparently  uninfluenced  by  it. 
It  has  been  a  gradual  change  in  the  standard  of  con- 
duct, in  favour  of  sobriety  as  part  of  the  behaviour 
expected  of  a  gentleman.  Total  abstinence  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it;  there  was  no  question  of 
abstaining ;  but  drunkenness  has  come  to  be  regarded 
as  discreditable  and  offensive,  as  *  bad  form  *  in  short, 
instead  of  being  quite  the  right  and  proper  thing. 
It  is  idle  to  say  that  the  lower  classes  are  unaware 
of  the  fact,  or  uninfluenced  by  it.  What  do  servants 
think  of  a  drunken  master?  What  do  the  people 
think  of  a  drunken  clergyman  or  Member  of  Parlia- 
ment, let  alone  a  Cabinet  Minister  or  a  judge  ?  They 
think  him  a  disgrace,  however  drunk  they  may  get 
themselves,  because  a  man  in  his  position  is  expected 
to  conform  to  a  higher  standard.  And  in  proportion 
as  they  respect  themselves,  the  lower  classes  are 
moved  insensibly  to  make  that  standard  their  own. 
The  influence  is  gradually  permeating  their  ranks, 
and  traces  of  it  can  be  found  very  low  down  in  the 
scale  by  those  who  care  to  look.  The  reader  may 
not  agree  with  me  in  attaching  so  much  weight  to 
this  social  factor,  but  no  one  can  deny  its  existence, 
and  I  can  call  one  unimpeachable  witness  to  the  im- 
portance of  a  social  lead  from  the  upper  classes  in  re- 
gard to  temperance.  Dr.  Dawson  Burns,  speaking  of 
the  decline  of  the  movement  in  Ireland,  remarks  that 
*  the  causes  are  not  far  to  seek.  As  early  as  1841, 
almost  at  the  culmination  of  the  popular  movement, 
it  was  noticed  with  regret  and  apprehension  that  the 
upper  and  upper-middle  classes,  both  Protestant  and 


114       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Roman  Catholic,  had  not  joined  the  reform,  and  it 
was  predicted  that  should  this  continue  the  want  of 
moral  support  from  such  quarters  would  enfeeble 
and  imperil  the  whole  reform.  The  prediction  was 
lamentably  fulfilled.'  In  other  words,  a  social  move- 
ment, if  it  is  to  last,  must  begin  from  the  top,  which 
is  just  my  point.  Therefore,  I  regard  the  example  of 
society  as  a  most  important  factor  in  bringing  about 
that  organic  change  in  tone  which  marks  the  last 
fifty  or  sixty  years.  And  though  the  improvement 
in  manners  began  quite  early  in  the  century,  the 
chief  credit  for  maintaining  and  developing  it  belongs 
to  the  steady  influence  of  the  Court  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria. This  is  one  of  the  many,  ways  in  which  Her 
late  Majesty's  wise  and  high-minded  rule  worked 
quietly  and  unostentatiously  for  the  benefit  of  her 
people. 

A  word  in  conclusion  about  the  future.  Most  of 
the  *  Forces  of  Temperance  '  discussed  above  will 
continue  to  work  naturally  and  surely;  but  a  good 
deal  may  be  done  actively  to  help  on  the  improve- 
ment. The  organisations  have  their  work  before 
them  in  pegging  away  at  the  further  education  of 
public  opinion,  and  the  more  reasonable  their  tone, 
the  greater  will  be  the  attention  paid  to  them. 
Similarly  with  the  Legislature.  There  is  plenty  of 
encouragement  in  the  past  for  moderate  and  well- 
considered  legislation,  and  as  public  opinion  changes, 
measures  of  that  kind  may  be  brought  forward  with 
good  prospects  of  success.  Chapters  VII.  and  VIII. 
are  devoted  to  a  more  detailed  consideration  of  this 
subject. 


115 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE 

The  fundamental  fact  at  the  bottom  of  the  drink 
question  is  the  physiological  action  of  alcoholic 
liquor  on  the  animal  organism.  People  like  it  and 
drink  to  please  themselves.  It  is  necessary  to  insist 
on  this  truism  because — ^like  a  good  many  other 
truisms — it  is  perpetually  forgotten.  Most  *  schemes  ' 
of  liquor  legislation  are  in  fact  based  on  the  assump- 
tion that  people  drink  to  please  some  one  else.  They 
are  said  to  be  in  the  *  murderous  grip  '  of  the  trade, 
from  which  they  would  fain  escape  if  the  opportunity 
were  allowed  them.  The  *  murderous  grip  '  is  the 
extreme  view,  expressed  in  that  rhetorical  manner 
which  is  generally  associated  with  lack  of  matter. 
There  are  other  views  less  extravagant  but  still 
inspired  by  the  idea  that  the  moving  force  of  in- 
temperance is  not  so  much  the  desire  of  the  drinker 
as  the  greed  of  the  purveyor,  or,  it  may  be,  some 
external  circumstance.  The  drunkard  is  '  enticed,' 
*  led, ' '  tempted  '  by  various  devices,  or  he  is  '  driven  ' 
to  drink  by  the  squalor  of  his  surroundings  and  the 
lack  of  other  pleasures.  Such  is  the  theory.  I  do 
not  say  there  is  nothing  in  it.     There  is  something 


116      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

but  not  much.  The  essential  and  dominant  factor 
is  the  desire,  the  determination,  of  the  individual, 
and  all  attempts  to  ignore  it,  to  exaggerate  the 
importance  of  externals  and  to  minimise  the  re- 
sponsibility of  the  drinker  for  his  own  excess  tend 
only  to  a  distorted  view  of  the  problem,  and  to  futile 
or  mischievous  legislation. 

Man's  liking  for  alcoholic  liquor  rests  on  a 
physiological  basis  which  can  no  more  be  argued 
away  than  the  physiological  distinction  between  the 
sexes.  Wine  maketh  glad  the  heart  of  man.  We 
are  so  formed  by  Nature,  and  though  there  are 
always  people  who  think  they  can  defy  or  alter  the 
decrees  of  Nature,  she  has  her  way  in  the  end  and 
bates  not  a  jot.  It  is  futile  to  ignore  the  decree,  how- 
ever sure  we  may  be  that  we  could  have  arranged 
things  better.  It  might,  or  might  not,  be  to  our  ad- 
vantage if  we  had  been  differently  constituted  and 
alcoholic  products  had  no  such  effect  as  they  have. 
But  the  effect  is  there ;  the  wise  man  recognises  and 
reckons  with  it.  I  am  not  going  to  enter  on  the  weary 
question  whether  alcohol  is  good  or  bad,  a  food  or 
a  poison.  All  that  is  beside  my  point,  more  especially 
as  no  one  drinks  or  wants  to  drink  *  alcohol,'  but 
only  certain  liquids  which  contain  alcohol  along  with 
many  other  things.  The  point  on  which  I  wish  to 
insist  is  that  these  liquids  are  agreeable  to  the 
human  organism — and,  for  the  matter  of  that,  to 
most  if  not  to  all  animals.  They  exhilarate,  they 
remove  depression,  they  lighten  pain,  they  make 
glad  the  heart;  and  doing  so  they  foster  conviviality 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       117 

and  good-fellowship,  they  make  the  individual  pleased 
with  himself  and  others ;  they  make  life  seem  brighter 
and  more  enjoyable.  Temporarily,  of  course,  and 
only  up  to  a  certain  point.  Still  they  do  it,  and  man 
desires  them  for  that  reason. 

It  follows  that  he  desires  them  most  and  is  apt  to 
indulge  in  them  to  excess  in  those  circumstances 
in  which  he  has  most  need  of  their  exhilarating 
properties — in  circumstances,  that  is  to  say,  of  gloom 
and  depression.  Hence  the  influence  of  climate  and 
weather,  which  are  the  most  important  of  all  the 
standing  conditions  affecting  intemperance.  The 
most  drunken  countries  in  Europe  are  Scandinavia, 
Northern  Russia,  and  Scotland;  the  most  sober, 
excluding  Orientals,  are  Portugal,  Spain,  and  Italy. 
I  speak  from  observation,  which  is  borne  out  by 
police  records.  The  statement  may  seem  at  variance 
with  the  returns  showing  the  consumption  in  different 
countries  issued  by  the  Board  of  Trade,  but  the 
apparent  discrepancy  is  easily  explained.  For  one 
thing  the  data  on  which  the  Board  of  Trade  returns 
are  based  are  in  the  case  of  several  foreign  countries 
too  imperfect  to  be  trustworthy  for  purposes  of 
precise  comparison.  But,  apart  from  that,  con- 
sumption and  intemperance  have  no  necessary 
relation  at  all,  especially  when  different  countries 
are  compared.  Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal  are  wine- 
growing countries.  Wine  is  made  almost  every- 
where; it  costs  very  little  and  everybody  drinks  it 
at  aU  meals.  Consequently  the  national  consump- 
tion is   comparatively   high,   but   the   individual   is 


118       DRINK,  TEIVIPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

very  temperate.  In  these  warm  climates  people  are 
mofift  sparing.  A  very  little  of  the  common,  un- 
brandied  red  wine,  diluted  with  water,  is  taken  at 
each  meal.  That  was  also  the  practice  in  France, 
another  wine-growing  country,  until  the  destruction 
of  the  vines  by  the  phylloxera  led  the  people  to 
drink  spirits  as  a  beverage.  This  caused  a  most 
instructive  increase  of  drunkenness,  particularly 
among  the  mining  and  industrial  population.  But 
France  is  still  a  very  temperate  country  compared 
with  England.  The  police  drunkennesfs  is  less 
than  one  fourth  and  almost  confined  to  the  North. 
In  short  the  manner  and  distribution  of  drinking 
have  to  be  taken  into  account  when  one  country 
is  compared  with  another.  Otherwise  the  most 
erroneous  conclusions  will  be  drawn  from  statistics 
of  consumption.  For  instance,  Portugal  appears 
to  be  as  large  a  consumer  as  the  United  Kingdom, 
but  drunkenness  is  really  unknown  there.  The 
American  Minister  who  had  lived  there  for  many 
years  told  me  that  he  had  never  seen  a  drunken 
man,  and  my  own  observations  entirely  confirm  his 
experience.  I  have  looked  for  drunkenness  in  the 
large  towns,  in  Lisbon  and  Oporto,  but  have  never 
seen  a  single  individual  in  the  slightest  degree  the 
worse  for  liquor.  In  Sweden,  on  the  other  hand, 
and  still  more  in  Norway,  the  consumption  per  head 
is  much  lower;  but  drunkenness  is  rife  in  the  towns. 
The  fact  is  that  alcoholic  consumption  is  diffused 
in  some  countries  and  concentrated  in  others.  It  is 
particularly  diffused  in  the  wine-producing  countries, 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       119 

where  wine  is  drunk  merely  as  an  ordinary  article  of 
diet  and  in  a  weak  form,  but  by  everybody,  children 
included.  It  is  particularly  concentrated  in  the 
most  northern  countries,  where  drink  is  taken  to 
stimulate.  It  is  concentrated  in  three  respects — 
(1)  the  form  of  liquor;  (2)  the  number  of  persons 
using  it,  for  children,  who  do  not  need  exhilarating, 
consume  as  a  whole  very  little  alcohol  in  these 
countries;  (3)  the  period  of  drinking,  which  is  to  a 
great  extent  compressed  into  a  few  hours  in  the  even- 
ing, instead  of  being  distributed  over  the  whole  day. 
These  considerations  explain  the  apparent  dis- 
crepancy between  the  geographical  distribution  of  in- 
temperance and  the  returns  relating  to  consumption. 
Broadly  speaking,  the  inhabitants  of  raw,  dull,  and 
damp  climates  are  pre-eminently  given  to  excessive 
indulgence,  while  those  who  live  under  warm  and 
sunny  skies  are  temperate  in  habit.  The  influence 
of  climate  is  plainly  discernible  when  different  parts 
of  the  United  Kingdom  are  compared.  The  northern 
counties  of  England  are  more  drunken  than  the 
southern,  Scotland  is  more  drunken  than  England, 
and  the  west  coast  of  Scotland  more  drunken  than 
the  east.  A  table  prepared  by  the  Home  Office  to 
show  the  geographical  distribution  by  counties  for 
the  years  1890-94  brings  out  some  interesting  facts. 
It  gives  the  average  annual  number  of  persons  pro- 
ceeded against  for  drunkenness  per  100,000  of  the 
population.  The  mean  for  the  whole  is  620.  The 
following  are  the  figures  for  the  twelve  highest  and 
the  twelve  lowest  counties.     The  former  are  all  in 


120      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


the  north  and  west,  the  latter  all  in  south,  east,  or 
midlands. 


Highest 

Lowest 

Northumberland    .             1813 

Cambridge                              119 

Durham 

1351 

Oxford     . 

136 

Glamorgan 

1089 

Wiltshire 

137 

Lancaster 

1038 

Suffolk    . 

140 

Pembroke 

877 

Rutland 

140 

Shropshire 

783 

Huntingdon 

144 

Brecon 

759 

Norfolk    . 

184 

Cumberland 

756 

Cornwall 

207 

Stafford 

718 

Essex 

219 

Monmouth 

718 

Bedford 

226 

Worcester 

709 

Middlesex 

228 

Chester    . 

671 

Somerset 

229 

The  differences  are  very  striking  and  too  great 
to  be  accidental.  No  doubt  other  factors  than 
geographical  position  come  into  play.  The  sober 
counties  have  a  generally  rural  character,  the  drunken 
ones  are  mining  and  agricultural;  but  we  find  Cum- 
berland, a  northern  rural  county,  high  in  the  list, 
and  Essex,  which  has  a  very  large  industrial  popula- 
tion, equally  low.  If  the  counties  are  divided  into 
two  classes,  having  (1)  over  400,  and  (2)  under  400 
cases  of  drunkenness  per  100,000,  and  if  a  line  is 
drawn  across  England  from  the  Severn  to  the  Wash, 
all  the  counties  on  the  south  side  of  it  are  found  to 
be  in  the  second  class,  and  all  those  to  the  north, 
with  three  or  four  insignificant  exceptions,  in  the 
first.  London  itself,  which  stands  in  a  category  of  its 
own,  only  comes  twelfth  on  the  list,  between  Worces- 
tershire and  Cheshire.  The  drunkenness  of  Northum- 
berland is  conspicuous.    It  called  forth  some  strong 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      121 

comments  by  Mr.  Justice  Wills  at  the  North-E astern 
assizes  in  March  1901,  on  account  of  the  exceptional 
amount  of  crime  that  came  before  him  from  this 
cause.  The  police  returns,  therefore,  for  that  county- 
reflect  a  real  condition  of  things  and  cannot  be  ex- 
plained by  any  difference  in  procedure  or  activity. 
The  causes  are  no  doubt  the  climate  and  the  mining 
occupation.  As  one  travels  north  the  climate 
becomes  colder  and  wetter,  and  Scotland  is  more 
drunken  even  than  Northumberland.  Colonel 
McHardy,  Chairman  of  the  Prison  Commissioners 
of  Scotland,  has  pointed  out  that  in  the  towns  to  the 
west  of  the  main  watershed  the  average  number  of 
offences  is  35  per  1,000,  in  towns  to  the  east  it  is 
only  22  per  1,000,  and  he  attributes  the  difference  in 
part  at  least  to  the  greater  dampness  of  the  west 
coast,  which  conduces  to  more  drinking.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that  a  raw  and  damp  climate  tends  particu- 
larly to  the  use  of  spirits.  North  Russia,  Scandi- 
navia, and  Scotland  are  pre-eminently  spirit-drinking 
countries.  All  classes  habitually  consume  this  form 
of  alcohol,  which  is  the  most  concentrated  and  the 
most  intoxicating;  and  the  traveller  who  is  not 
accustomed  to  take  it  in  the  same  manner  at  home 
finds  that  the  climate  gives  it  a  relish  which  it  lacks 
elsewhere  and  enables  him  to  drink  it  with  comfort 
and  satisfaction  to  an  amount  and  at  hours  which 
would  be  exceedingly  disagreeable  to  him  in  other 
climates.  The  sportsman  in  the  Highlands,  who 
gets  his  feet  wet  within  five  minutes  of  leaving  the 
house,  who  wades  through  burns  up  to  his  waist  and 


122      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

is  drenched  by  rain  or  mist,  has  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  the  native  taste  for  raw  whisky.  In 
Sweden,  which  has  a  very  similar  climate,  it  is  the 
custom  even  in  good  society  to  begin  dinner  with 
a  glass  or  two  of  raw  spirits.  Ladies  take  their 
share  with  every  one  else,  and  it  does  not  seem  to 
hurt  them.  They  are  not  given  to  inebriety,  in  spite 
of  this  practice,  which  would  have  a  very  sinister 
significance  elsewhere.  The  glass  of  spirits  seems 
suitable  to  the  country.  When  I  was  there  the 
idea  of  beginning  dinner  in  this  way  was  at  first  re- 
pugnant to  me,  and  I  watched  others  doing  it  with 
something  like  disgust.  I  particularly  dislike  drink- 
ing anything  between  or  before  meals,  and  care  very 
little  for  spirits  at  any  time  in  ordinary  circumstances. 
But  in  a  short  time  the  repugnance  died  away,  I 
began  to  fall  in  with  the  custom  of  the  country  and 
eventually  quite  enjoyed  it.  The  Swedish  working 
man  habitually  drinks  raw  spirits  and  will  toss  off  a 
couple  of  large  glasses  one  after  another.  I  do  not 
pretend  to  understand  the  physiology  of  the  matter, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  about  the  fact  that  a  combina- 
tion of  cold  and  damp  predisposes  to  the  consump- 
tion of  the  more  concentrated  alcoholic  liquors.  The 
same  people  drink  more  in  winter  than  in  summer 
and  more  in  a  cold  winter  than  a  mild  one.  The 
extraordinarily  cold  winter  of  1895  caused  such  an 
exceptional  consumption  of  rum  in  this  country  as 
to  make  an  appreciable  difference  to  the  Budget. 

In  a  warm  country,  on  the  other  hand,  the  healthy 
organism  only  fancies  alcoholic  liquors  in  a  dilute 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      123 

form,  and  raw  spirits  as  consumed  in  northern 
climates  are  utterly  distasteful.  They  are  only  used 
in  minute  quantities  as  a  digestive  after  dinner.  I 
believe  the  sunlight  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it. 
The  physiological  action  of  sunlight  is  not  at  all  un- 
derstood, but  we  do  know  that  its  absence,  under  dull 
and  gloomy  skies,  is  *  depressing,*  whatever  may  be 
the  precise  meaning  of  that  word ;  and  people  seek  to 
replace  the  natural  sun  by  what  has  been  called 
*  bottled  sunlight.'  It  is  not  by  accident  or  fashion 
that  the  strong  and  heavy  wines  produced  in  the 
South  find  their  market  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
Russia,  and  Scandinavia,  and  are  eschewed  in  the 
sunny  countries  which  produce  them.  In  hotter 
countries  still  the  natives  are  even  more  abstemious. 
In  my  own  personal  experience  I  always  feel  in  a 
warm  climate  the  converse  effect  to  that  noted  in 
Scotland  and  Sweden :  I  dislike  spirits. 

Climate  and  weather,  then,  have  a  distinct  in- 
fluence in  moderating  or  intensifying  the  appetite 
for  intoxicating  drink.  It  would  be  surprising  if  they 
had  not,  since  they  affect  diet  generally.  The  in- 
habitants of  rigorous  climes  are  greater  eaters  and 
more  carnivorous,  as  well  as  greater  drinkers,  than 
those  who  live  in  warmer  latitudes.  Then  I  think 
race  has  something  to  do  with  it,  though  the  evidence 
on  this  point  is  less  clear.  For  instance  the  Hunga- 
rians are  noticeably  more  drunken  than  the  Austrians 
— ^that  is,  the  Teutonic  Austrians — notwithstanding 
the  proximity  of  the  two  countries,  which  enjoy  a 
very  similar  climate.     Indeed,  the  meteorology   of 


124      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Hungary  does  not  account  for  the  habits  of  the 
people.  It  is  cold  in  winter,  no  doubt,  but  not  ex- 
cessively so,  and  the  summers  are  long  and  hot. 
Moreover  the  dry,  bracing  air  of  the  great  plains  is 
the  very  reverse  of  that  atmospheric  condition  which 
we  have  noted  as  conducing  to  drink.  Nor  does 
difference  of  occupation  account  for  the  greater 
proneness  of  the  Hungarians  to  alcoholic  indulgence. 
They  are  a  more  pastoral  and  a  less  industrial 
people  than  the  Austrians.  Again,  Hungary  is  a 
wine-growing  country,  and  as  a  rule  wine-producing 
countries  are  sober.  But  the  Hungarians  are 
spirit  drinkers ;  they  make  spirituous  liquors  from  all 
kinds  of  things.  For  instance  I  have  tasted  there  an 
excellent  home-made  spirit  produced  from  walnuts 
and  used  as  a  liqueur  at  breakfast.  That  is  a  curious 
custom  the  like  of  which  I  have  not  seen  elsewhere 
except  at  *  hunt  breakfasts  '  in  England.  Perhaps 
this  gives  the  key  to  the  problem.  The  Hungarians 
are  a  lusty,  jovial  race,  full  of  energy  and  vigour, 
fond  of  sport  and  an  outdoor  life,  greatly  given  to 
hospitality  and  good-fellowship.  These  things  are 
in  their  blood  and  they  go  with  a  liking  for  strong 
drink.  Other  evidence  of  racial  influence  is  afforded 
by  colonial  settlements  and  countries  populated  by 
immigrants.  Colonists  of  drinking  blood,  such  as 
Britons,  Scandinavians,  Slavs,  and  Teutons,  drink 
even  in  hot'  countries,  though  less  than  at  home. 
Our  Australian  colonies,  with  the  exception  of  West 
Australia,  consume  considerably  less  alcohol  per  head 
than  the  mother  country;  but  they  drink  more  than 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       125 

people  of  other  races  under  similar  climatic  condi- 
tions. Then  again  we  have  the  curious  fact  that 
drunkenness  prevails  more  extensively  in  Scotland, 
Ireland,  and  Wales  than  in  England.  The  pro- 
portional figure  in  1890-94  was  611  for  England 
against  774  for  Wales,  which  is  certainly  not  better 
policed.  Irish  and  Scotch  figures  for  the  same 
period  are  lacking,  but  in  1898,  when  England  and 
Wales  together  reached  698,  Ireland  stood  at  1,920 
and  Scotland  at  2,688.  The  superior  capacity  for 
disorder  thus  shown  by  all  the  Celtic  countries  is 
very  suggestive.  Climate  explains  it  in  part,  no 
doubt,  but  race  seems  to  come  also  into  play.  The 
only  other  condition  which  the  three  countries  share 
in  common  as  against  England  is  Sunday-closing. 
Does  this  conduce  to  greater  disorder  by  concentrating 
in  one  day,  Saturday,  the  drinking  capacity  which  in 
England  is  spread  over  two? 

Before  leaving  this  interesting  but  rather  specu- 
lative question  of  the  influence  of  race,  I  should  like 
to  point  out  what  I  have  mentioned  incidentally  in  a 
previous  chapter — namely,  that  all  predominant  races 
are  given  to  strong  drink.  The  abstemious  nations 
are  all  decadent;  the  progressive  ones  all  drink. 
Energy,  vigour,  initiative,  enterprise  belong  in  a  pre- 
eminent degree,  if  not  exclusively,  to  the  drinking 
races.  A  striking  example  of  this  coincidence  is 
furnished  by  the  two  yellow  races.  The  Chinese  are 
sober  and  decadent,  the  Japanese  are  conspicuously 
enterprising,  alert,  progressive,  and  given  to  indul- 
gence in  liquor.     The  difference  between  the  sailors 


126      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

of  the  two  nationalities  ashore  is  very  striking 
according  to  the  East-end  police.  In  England  those 
northern  counties  which  I  have  shown  to  be  more 
drunken  than  the  southern  are  the  backbone  of  the 
country.  The  energy  and  enterprise  of  the  Welsh 
are  concentrated  in  drunken  Glamorgan;  drunken 
Scotland  produces  the  most  enduring,  capable,  and 
successful  pioneers  in  the  world;  drunken  Ireland  is 
the  mother  of  the  quickest-witted  race  known  to  our 
age ;  drunken  Sweden  sends  out  a  splendid  strain  of 
colonists  who  are  welcomed  wherever  they  go. 
Compare  these  breeds  with  those  of  Portugal,  Spain, 
South  Italy,  or  Greece.  I  do  not  suggest  that  the 
former  are  capable  because  they  drink,  and  still  less 
that  the  more  they  drink  the  more  capable  they  are ; 
but  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that  racially  drink  and 
energy  go  together.  Probably  the  meaning  of  it  is 
that  the  conditions  which  foster  vigour  of  mind  and 
body  tend  also  to  alcoholic  indulgence.  The  same 
people  drink  with  vigour  and  do  other  things  with 
vigour ;  they  have  the  qualities  of  their  defects. 

A  possible  explanation  of  racial  differences  may  be 
found  in  the  Darwinian  theory  of  evolution,  accord- 
ing to  which  long  exposure  to  the  influence  of  alcohol 
would  tend  to  national  sobriety  by  weeding  out  the 
drunkards  and  leaving  the  more  temperate,  who  live 
longer  and  transmit  their  moderate  tendencies  to  their 
offspring.  There  is  a  good  deal  to  be  said  for  this 
theory,  which  has  been  well  worked  out  by  Dr.  Arch- 
dall  Reid.  It  is  far  more  in  consonance  with  established 
scientific  generalisations  than  the  opposite  hypothesis 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       127 

that  heredity  tends  to  make  nations  more  drunken. 
It  is  also  more  in  consonance  with  the  facts  of  experi- 
ence noted  in  previous  chapters.  Heredity  is  most 
certainly  not  making  us  more  drunken,  since  we 
have  been  getting  more  sober  for  150  years.  Nor 
is  there  any  evidence  that  the  children  of  inebriates 
are  born  with  a  *  craving  '  for  liquor.  That  is  a  pure 
assumption.  They  are  born  with  a  tendency  to  self- 
indulgence,  and  as  they  grow  up  the  parental  habits 
commonly  afford  both  example  and  opportunity 
which  determine  the  direction  their  self-indulgence 
takes.  On  the  other  hand  the  influence  of  heredity 
in  promoting  national  sobriety  is  very  difficult  to 
prove  for  lack  of  sufficient  ethnographical  and 
historical  knowledge.  It  may  account  in  part  at 
least  for  the  superior  sobriety  of  the  South  over  the 
North,  of  the  English  over  the  Celts,  of  the  Austrians 
over  the  Hungarians ;  but  we  are  not  in  a  position  to 
say  with  any  certainty  how  long  any  of  these  nations 
have  respectively  been  exposed  to  the  selective  action 
of  alcohol.  It  has  been  suggested  that  modern 
Greeks  and  Italians  are  sober  because  they  are  the  se- 
lected descendants  of  the  Hellenes  and  the  Romans, 
out  of  whose  blood  the  taste  for  alcoholic  excess  has 
gradually  been  weeded.  In  support  of  this  argument 
there  is  some  evidence  that  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Greece  and  Rome  were  more  given  to  indulgence 
in  wine  than  the  modern  ones;  but  the  racial  con- 
nection between  the  two  is  by  no  means  certain. 
We  do  not  know  to  what  extent  the  latter  can  be 
regarded  as  the  lineal  descendants  of  the  former. 


128      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

The  history  of  drink  in  this  country,  again,  hardly 
supports  the  theory.  The  influence  of  heredity  did 
not  sober  the  people  for  a  great  many  centuries,  and 
it  is  difficult  to  see  why  after  a  very  long  period 
of  complete  inactivity  it  should  suddenly  begin  to 
take  effect,  and  in  a  comparatively  short  time  should 
produce  a  substantial  change,  which  can  moreover 
be  accounted  for  by  other  influences.  The  strongest 
evidence  in  favour  of  the  theory  is  furnished  by  the 
Jews,  whose  marked  sobriety  in  the  present  day 
under  all  conditions  is  hard  to  explain  in  any  other 
way.  There  is  no  doubt  that  they  are  racially  con- 
tinuous with  the  ancient  Jews,  and  numerous  passages 
in  the  Bible  suggest  that  the  race  was  by  no  means 
so  abstemious  in  those  days.  On  the  other  hand  the 
sobriety  of  Mahommedans  and  Hindoos  cannot  be 
explained  by  heredity. 

On  the  whole,  though  this  question  is  very 
interesting,  and  ought  always  to  be  borne  in  mind, 
it  is  somewhat  too  speculative  for  the  purposes  of 
the  present  volume.  Whatever  the  influence  of 
heredity  may  be,  it  is  only  one  factor  among  many 
in  modifying  the  appetite  for  drink.  It  cannot 
possibly  account  for  variations  experienced  by  the 
same  individual  under  different  conditions,  or  explain 
why  I  like  spirits  in  Scotland  and  dislike  them  in 
Italy.  Nor  does  it  account  for  the  facts  which 
follow. 

The  next  of  the  forces  of  intemperance  to  which 
I  would  draw  attention  is  occupation,  which  has 
already  been  mentioned  in  passing.     The  Judicial 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE 


129 


Statistics  again  furnish  ns  with  some  interesting 
information  on  this  head.  The  following  table  gives 
the  proportional  drunkenness  for  1894  in  various 
districts  selected  according  to  their  character  and  the 
occupation  of  the  inhabitants. 

Drunkenness  per  100,000  population 


Seaports       .... 

.     1,260.78 

Mining    counties 

.     1,136.72 

Metropolis    .... 

637.42 

Manufacturing  towns 

470.08 

Pleasure  towns 

289.30 

Agricultural  counties: 

(1)  Home   Counties 

245.01 

(2)   South- Western  Count 

-ies  .                209.41 

(3)  Eastern   Counties 

.        .         109.92 

Seaports  stand  apart.  They  are  cosmopolitan  in 
the  first  place,  and,  in  the  second,  sailors  live  under 
peculiar  conditions.  They  have  a  very  hard  life  at 
sea,  devoid  of  recreative  and  educational  influences, 
but  accompanied  by  long  periods  of  compulsory  absti- 
nence. When  they  get  ashore  they  have  money  in 
their  pockets,  and  do  not  know  how  to  spend  it  on 
anything  but  the  lowest  of  pleasures.  In  spite  of 
much  that  has  been  done  for  them  in  this  country, 
they  are  still  an  exceptionally  drunken  class.  Next 
to  seaports,  and  only  a  little  behind  them,  come  the 
mining  districts.  There  is  no  doubt  at  all,  apart 
from  these  statistics,  that  the  miner's  occupation 
conduces  to  drink.  The  darkness  and  confinement 
are  depressing,  the  heat  and  toil  exhausting.  It  is 
seen  not  only  in  this  country,  but  in  France  and 
Belgium,   where   the   miners   are   notably    given   to 


130       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

drink,  in  comparison  with  other  classes.  In  Aus- 
tralia also,  the  consumption  of  alcohol  is  much  higher 
in  the  mining  than  in  the  more  pastoral  colonies. 
The  pre-eminence  of  miners  in  alcoholic  indulgence 
is  not  wholly  due  to  their  occupation,  because  good 
wages  enable  them  to  indulge  their  taste,  but  the 
life  certainly  tends  to  increase  the  taste. 

Then  we  come  to  the  metropolis,  which  has  not 
much  more  than  half  the  drunkenness  of  other 
seaports;  yet  it  is  the  greatest  of  them.  As  Mr. 
Troup  has  pointed  out,  the  metropolis  has  a  three- 
fold character:  it  is  the  greatest  seaport,  the  great- 
est manufacturing  town,  and  the  greatest  pleasure 
resort  in  the  kingdom.  Further,  it  is  the  seat  of 
government  and  of  the  administration  of  justice, 
and  contains  a  far  larger  proportion  of  the  profes- 
sional and  trading  classes  than  other  towns.  These 
neutralise  the  more  disorderly  elements,  and  bring 
the  metropolis  out  roughly  at  the  mean  of  the  other 
districts. 

The  manufacturing  towns,  which  follow  the 
metropolis  in  the  table,  are  lower  than  one  would 
expect;  but  they  are  very  much  higher  than  the 
pleasure  towns,  and  these  again  higher  than  the 
rural  districts.  The  question  is  complicated  in  the 
case  of  the  last  by  the  presence  of  other  factors, 
such  as  inferior  wages,  diminished  opportunities, 
and  sparser  policing,  which  are  merely  accidental  to 
the  life;  but  occupation  has  something  to  do  with 
it.  According  to  my  experience,  Hodge  is  not  a  very 
self-indulgent  person,  and  Mrs.  Hodge  is  decidedly 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE 


131 


abstemious.     She  does  not  frequent  the  village  pub, 
which  in  itself  makes  a  great  deal  of  difference. 

Some  further  light  is  thrown  on  the  question  of 
occupation  by  the  death-rates,  which  have  a 
certain  value  for  comparing  one  class  with  another 
in  the  same  period.  The  following  table  gives  the 
comparative  mortality  from  *  alcoholism  and  diseases 
of  the  liver  *  among  males  between  twenty-five  and 
sixty-five,  in  the  three  years  1890-92,  all  *  occupied 
males  *  being  taken  at  100 : 


Coachman — cabman 

153 

Dock  labourer 

195 

Costermonger 

163 

Chimney-sweep 

200 

Coalheaver     . 

166 

Butcher 

228 

Fishmonger    . 

168 

Brewer    . 

250 

Musician 

168 

Inn-servant    . 

420 

Hairdresser    . 

176 

Inn-keeper 

733 

This  table  of  the  most  alcoholic  occupations  is 
very  interesting.  The  three  highest  classes  are 
explained  by  unlimited  opportunities.  Three  others 
— ^namely,  coalheavers,  dock  labourers,  and  hair- 
dressers— represent  the  occupations  into  which 
disorderly  characters  and  social  failures  especially 
drift;  they  are,  in  fact,  refuge  occupations.  It  is 
not  generally  known  that  hairdressing  is  a  common 
resource  for  men  of  some  education  and  decent 
appearance  who  can  get  nothing  else  to  do.  The 
remaining  classes  are  all  to  be  explained  by  exposure 
(musicians  includes  street  musicians)  and  early 
morning  work.  I  have  frequently  observed  the 
effect  of  the  latter.  In  England  the  men  of  the 
working  classes  are  essentially  beer  drinkers,  except 


132      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

in  the  very  far  north.  Excluding  highly  paid  me- 
chanics, who  ape  the  customs  of  the  gentry,  they 
never  order  spirits  at  the  public-house,  and  do  not 
take  it  when  it  is  offered  them,  if  they  can  have  beer 
instead.  But  there  are  exceptions.  Sailors,  market 
porters,  cabmen  and  'bus- drivers  are  more  or  less 
spirit  drinkers.  The  reason  is  obvious.  These  men 
are  either  greatly  exposed  to  the  weather,  or  they  do 
night  work,  or  they  get  up  very  early  in  the  morning. 
The  men  employed  at  Smithfield  are  particularly 
hard  drinkers  as  a  class.  Their  work  is  excessively 
early  and  very  trying,  and  there  is  something  in  the 
handling  of  a  great  deal  of  raw  meat  which  causes 
depression,  and  engenders  a  desire  for  spirits. 

St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  which  is  immediately 
opposite  the  market,  knows  these  men  well.  They 
are  constantly  coming  to  the  surgery  with  cuts  and 
other  injuries,  caused  by  accident  or  fighting,  and 
they  make  very  *  bad  subjects.'  The  men  of 
Billingsgate  and  Covent  Garden,  whose  work  begins 
at  an  extremely  early  hour,  are  also  spirit  drinkers. 
Among  professional  men  doctors  are  most  frequently 
given  to  intemperance.  The  cause  is  the  same — 
night-work  and  exposure.  They  seek  relief  from 
the  cardiac  depression  caused  by  interrupted  sleep, 
irregular  meals,  fatigue,  cold  and  wet;  they  find  it 
most  readily  in  stimulants,  and  with  some  the 
practice  leads  gradually  to  habitual  excess.  The  most 
intemperate  female  occupations  are  cooking  and 
laundry  work ;  heat  and  exhaustion  cause  a  *  sinking.  * 

To  continue  the  death-rates,  occupied  males  stand 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE  133 

at  thirteen,  but  in  industrial  districts  the  figure  is 
nineteen,  in  agricultural  ones  only  seven.  Clergy- 
men come  at  the  bottom  of  the  list  with  two,  a  clear 
proof  of  the  influence  of  moral  self-control.  They 
are  only  equalled  by  engine-drivers  and  stokers,  who 
are  compelled  to  be  abstemious  by  the  conditions  of 
their  employment.  Fishermen  are  next  with  three. 
Self-preservation  enforces  sobriety  at  sea,  and  they 
are  but  little  ashore.  Then  we  have  farm  labourers 
and  gardeners,  who  are  undoubtedly  a  very  sober 
class;  there  seems  to  be  something  about  work  on 
the  soil  which  has  a  non-alcoholic  tendency.  The 
figure  for  farmers  is  six,  which  is  also  very  low. 
Railwaymen  other  than  those  on  locomotives  stand 
at  five,  which  again  is  explained  by  the  work. 
Strict  supervision  and  regularity  are  absolutely 
necessary  for  railway  work.  Of  professional  men 
the  lowest,  next  to  clergymen,  are  schoolmasters, 
with  eight.  Barristers  and  solicitors  rise  to  twelve, 
which  is  nearly  the  average  of  occupied  males. 
Doctors  are  above  that  average.  The  figure  for 
unoccupied  males  is  twenty-three,  which  is  nearly 
double  that  of  the  occupied.  Idleness  is  a  powerful 
ally  of  intemperance.  After  this  we  come  to  the 
more  drunken  classes,  which  have  already  been  dealt 
with. 

The  foregoing  observations  on  climate  and  occu- 
pation must  be  taken  in  a  broad  sense,  and  with  due 
regard  to  other  qualifying  conditions.  But  these 
factors  should  always  be  borne  in  mind  when  argu- 
ments are  drawn  from  one  country  or  one  section 


134      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

of  the  population  and  applied  to  others  differently 
situated,  with  different  habits  and  different  needs. 

I  pass  on  to  another  class  of  conditions  in- 
fluencing intemperance.  It  is  often  said  that  the 
working  classes  are  driven  to  drink  by  their  con- 
ditions of  life  and  the  absence  of  other  pleasures. 
These  are  factors,  no  doubt,  but  not,  in  my  opinion, 
of  the  first  importance.  They  do  not  make  people 
intemperate  in  non-drinking  countries,  and  the  most 
improved  conditions  do  not  keep  them  sober  in  drink- 
ing ones.  The  most  squalid  and  miserable  homes  are 
the  effect,  not  the  cause,  of  drink,  though  of  course 
the  effect  reacts  upon  the  cause  in  a  vicious  circle. 
Why  do  men  frequent  the  public-house  ?  The  answer, 
given  me  by  a  working  man  in  a  public-house, 
cannot  be  improved.  '  They  come,'  he  said,  *  for 
the  pipe,  the  company,  and  the  glass  of  beer.'  It  is 
true,  but  the  sting  is  in  the  tail.  They  like  the 
combination,  but  the  essential  item  is  the  glass  of 
beer.  They  can  and  do  get  the  pipe  and  the  com- 
pany elsewhere,  and  more  comfortably  than  in  the 
public-house,  which  is  the  most  uncomfortable 
place  it  is  possible  to  enter.  The  sole  advantage  it 
enjoys  is  the  glass  of  beer;  but  that  is  sufficient. 
Without  it  the  other  things  do  not  satisfy.  There- 
fore the  public-house  and  the  club  flourish,  but  the 
coffee  tavern  languishes.  Furthermore  the  pipe 
and  the  company  are  available  in  the  public-house 
without  the  glass  of  beer,  if  that  is  your  pleasure. 
You  may  order  a  glass  of  ginger  beer  oj  just  nothing 
at  all.    Experto  crede.    I  speak  of  the  urban  public- 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       135 

house  frequented  by  working  men;  the  village  inn, 
where  the  company  is  sparser,  known  to  the  land- 
lord and  personally  looked  after  by  him,  has  a 
somewhat  different  code.  Lastly,  the  supreme 
claim  of  the  glass  of  beer  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
many  customers  come  for  that  and  nothing  more. 
When  they  have  had  it  they  leave,  to  go  elsewhere, 
or  hang  about  outside,  talking  and  smoking,  until 
the  time  comes  for  another  glass.  The  provision  of 
other  places  of  resort  devoid  of  this  attraction  will 
not  ruin  the  public-house.  The  effective  rival  is 
the  club,  where  the  indispensable  glass  can  also  be 
obtained.  How  indispensable  it  is  may  be  made 
clear  by  observing  the  habits  of  working  men  in 
regard  to  their  amusements.  Means  of  recreation 
have  multiplied  very  rapidly  of  late  years ;  there  are 
theatres,  music-halls,  football  matches,  and  so  on 
in  every  town,  and  they  are  frequented  to  an 
astonishing  extent.  But  an  integral  part  of  the 
entertainment  is  a  periodical  adjournment  to  the  bar 
or  the  nearest  public-house.  Therefore  I  say  that  the 
absence  of  such  amusements  is  not  one  of  the  most 
important  '  forces  of  intemperance.'  Nevertheless, 
improved  conditions  of  life,  recreations,  reading- 
rooms,  public  libraries,  and  all  institutions  of  this 
kind  do  help  towards  sobriety,  as  I  have  said  in  the 
last  chapter.  I  should  be  sorry  indeed  to  decry 
them,  and  only  want  to  put  them  in  their  true 
perspective.  They  act  in  two  ways:  first,  educa- 
tionally, by  helping  to  form  a  higher  standard  of 
conduct;    and    secondly,    by    abstracting    a    certain 


136      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

amount  of  time  from  the  public-house.  A  good 
deal  of  intemperance  occurs  merely  by  accumulation, 
and  anything  which  tends  to  diminish  the  time 
actually  devoted  to  glasses  of  beer  tends  in  some 
degree  to  lessen  their  number. 

Hospitality  and  conviviality  used  to  be  much 
greater  allies  of  intemperance  than  they  are  now. 
The  proverbial  *  flowing  bowl  *  was  the  sign  and  seal 
of  good-fellowship.  People  met  together  and  the 
bottle  went  round  as  a  matter  of  course.  Drinking 
healths  was  invented  to  serve  as  an  excuse  for  more 
liquor.  The  practice  originated  with  the  hard- 
drinking  barbarians  of  the  north.  In  polite  society 
it  has  become  a  mere  formality  and  an  exceedingly 
dreary  one,  because  it  is  associated  with  speeches; 
but  some  relics  remain  to  indicate  what  it  used  to 
be.  At  some  colleges  in  the  old  universities  the  head, 
or  whoever  presides  at  the  high  table,  still  takes  a 
glass  of  wine  with  guests,  and  probably  the  custom 
lingers  elsewhere.  Once  it  was  the  duty  of  every 
host  to  take  frequent  glasses  with  his  guests.  In 
Sweden  it  is  still  the  custom  at  a  dinner  party  for 
every  person  to  drink  at  least  one  glass  with  every 
other  and  exchange  a  shall !  In  Hungary  one  simi- 
larly drinks  Jo  egeszsegere!  or  Eljen  a  Jiaza!  and 
clinks  glasses  with  great  vigour.  Festivals  are  con- 
vivial occasions,  and,  as  I  have  remarked  in  a  previous 
chapter,  they  have  always  been  associated  with 
drunkenness.  Christmas  and  New  Yearns  Day  are 
still  the  most  drunken  moments  of  the  year  in 
England  and  Scotland  respectively.     The  close  con- 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       137 

nection  between  conviviality  and  intemperance  is 
seen  to  perfection  in  Scotland  on  New  Yearns  Day 
or  after  the  annual  *  Games  *  in  the  Highlands. 
Every  man  carries  a  whisky  bottle  and  offers  it  to 
every  one  else,  so  that  each  drinks  out  of  all  the 
other  bottles.  Drink,  again,  is  the  essential  feature 
of  the  Irish  wake  and  the  English  East-end  funeral, 
which  are  both  great  domestic  festivals.  Then  there 
is  the  wedding  ^  breakfast,'  another  vanishing  relic 
of  the  past.  Christenings  also  used  to  be  celebrated 
by  the  consumption  of  much  liquor,  but  the  vogue 
seems  to  have  died  out. 

The  modern  tendency  to  moderation  is  seen  in 
nothing  more  plainly  than  in  the  curtailment  of 
convivial  drinking,  which  is  no  longer  carried  to 
intoxication  among  the  upper  classes.  Where  in- 
temperance exists  it  is  more  often  a  solitary  and 
secret  vice.  People  still  expect  a  glass  of  wine  at 
dinner,  and  that  is  indeed  a  sorry  feast  from  which 
it  is  banished;  but  they  know  when  to  stop.  This 
undeniable  fact  contains  the  answer  of  self-respecting 
mankind  to  the  teetotal  doctrine.  Good-fellowship  is 
a  great  thing — a  greater  thing  than  sobriety — and 
it  is  markedly  promoted  by  the  moderate  use  of 
alcohol  when  men  gather  together  for  social  inter- 
course and  enjoyment,  as  at  the  marriage  feast  in 
Cana  of  Galilee.  In  that  example,  which  no  con- 
troversialist has  yet  been  able  to  explain  away, 
the  most  conscientious  may  find  a  sanction  for  using 
this  gift  of  God.  The  attempt  to  banish  it  from 
the    social    table    is    an    implied    insult.     Professor 


138      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Blackie  once  put  the  case  in  characteristic  fashion. 
He  took  the  chair,  by  request,  at  a  temperance 
meeting,  and  caused  no  little  consternation  by 
roundly  declaring  that  a  man  who  asked  him  to 
dinner  and  did  not  give  him  a  good  glass  of  wine 
was,  in  his  opinion,  *  neither  a  gentleman  nor  a 
Christian. ' 

The  custom  of  using  without  abusing  is  gradually 
filtering  down  the  social  strata,  and  with  it  convi- 
viality is  ceasing  to  be  a  force  of  intemperance; 
but  it  is  still  responsible  for  a  rather  serious  form 
of  abuse.  I  mean  the  habit  of  making  a  chance 
meeting  of  acquaintances  or  the  conclusion  of 
some  mutual  business  the  occasion  for  exchanging 
drinks,  which  neither  party  wants,  as  a  mere  con- 
ventional sign  of  friendship  or  good  will.  It  is 
mainly  responsible  for  the  practice  of  drinkiUg 
between  meals,  which  is  apt  to  lead  to  chronic  in- 
temperance, and  is  really  much  more  injurious  than 
an  occasional  orgy  on  high  days  and  holidays. 

We  pass  on  to  the  question  of  facilities  and 
temptation,  which  is  the  great  battlefield  of 
temperance  controversy.  To  some  facilities  are 
everything,  to  others  nothing.  The  truth,  as  usual, 
lies  in  the  middle.  In  drunken  countries  the  un- 
limited multiplication  of  opportunities  has  always 
led  to  a  disastrous  state  of  things.  Instances  have 
been  given  from  past  experience  in  this  country.  In 
the  eighteenth  century,  when  drink  was  cheap, 
houses  excessively  numerous  and  always  open,  the 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       139 

result  was — Gin  Alley.  Sweden  and  Norway  were 
in  the  same  state  before  the  passing  of  restrictive 
legislation.  To  use  Dr.  Sigfrid  Wieselgren's  some- 
what rhetorical  language — *  the  very  marrow  of  the 
nation  was  sapped;  moral  and  physical  degradation, 
insanity,  poverty  and  crime,  family  ties  broken  up, 
brutal  habits — all  those  grim  legions  that  ever  range 
themselves  under  the  banner  of  intemperance — took 
possession  of  the  land.  It  was  bleeding  at  every 
pore,  yet  seemed  unwilling  to  be  healed.'  The  late 
Mr.  Willerding,  of  Gothenburg,  described  to  me  in 
less  high-flown,  but  much  more  convincing  terms, 
the  precise  physical  aspect  of  the  people  at  the 
time  when  the  sale  of  branvin  was  practically  un- 
limited, and  I  recognised  in  his  account  an  accurate 
description  of  persons  sodden  in  spirits — swollen 
in  body,  with  pallid,  blotched,  and  bloated  faces, 
trembling  hands  and  feeble  gait.  With  the  diminished 
consumption  of  branvin  under  the  new  laws  they 
had  gradually  disappeared.  The  effects  of  free 
licensing  under  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  Beer-house 
Act  and  of  the  all-night  opening,  in  the  days  before 
hours  of  closing  were  fixed,  have  been  already  men- 
tioned. Then  we  have  the  experience  of  Liverpool, 
which  tried  free  licensing  during  the  four  years 
1862-65.  Licenses  were  granted  to  all  persons 
applying  for  them,  provided  they  were  of  good 
character  and  had  suitable  premises.  The  number 
of  fully  licensed  houses  increased  during  the  period 
by  370,  or  23  per  cent.     The  number  of  persons 


140      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

proceeded   against   for    drunkenness   also   increased 
thus: 


Persons  proceeded 
Year  against 

1858  9,829 

1859  11,037 

1860  10,963 

1861  9,832 


Persons  proceeded 
Year  against 

1862  12,076 

1863  13,914 

1864  14,002 

1865  13,922 


In  1866  the  authorities  abandoned  the  experi- 
ment. It  is  said  that  it  did  not  have  a  fair  trial,  and 
perhaps  it  did  not;  but  so  far  as  it  went  the  result 
was  bad.  The  police,  who  are  responsible  for 
public  order,  are  unanimous  on  the  effect  of  exces- 
sive facilities.  The  numerous  Blue-books  in  which 
their  official  evidence  is  recorded  are  strewn  with  the 
opinions  of  the  most  experienced  men,  who  agree 
that  when  the  number  of  public-houses  is  too  great 
to  permit  of  effective  supervision  disorder  ensues. 
The  question,  indeed,  does  not  admit  of  argument. 
Eestriction  and  regulation  were  originally  intro- 
duced in  this  country  and  elsewhere  because  of  the 
rampant  disorder  connected  with  unlimited  facilities, 
and  the  benefit  of  successive  restrictions  has  been 
attested  over  and  over  again.  The  wholly  dispro- 
portionate death-rates  among  inn-keepers  and  inn- 
servants  point  to  the  same  conclusion. 

It  is,  however,  a  very  serious  mistake  to  infer  that 
intemperance  is  directly  proportionate  to  the  number 
of  public-houses,  and  that  the  fewer  there  are  of  the 
latter  the  less  there  will  be  of  the  former.  This 
opinion  is  held  by  a  great  many  temperance  workers, 
to  whom  it  seems  self-evident;  but  it  is  quite  falla- 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      141 

cious.  If  they  studied  the  habits  of  the  people  more 
at  first  hand,  they  would  find  out  the  mistake.  It 
arises  from  attaching  too  much  importance  to  the 
influence  of  temptation.  Drunkards  constantly  put 
forward  the  plea  of  temptation  as  an  excuse,  and  a 
moving  picture  has  hence  been  drawn  of  some  poor 
fellow  battling  against  his  weakness  and  resolutely 
passing  five  public-houses  only  to  break  down  at  the 
sixth.  I  am  afraid  the  battling  of  this  person  and 
his  painful  surrender  to  the  last  assault  of  the  devil 
are  quite  imaginary.  He  may  pass  five  houses  and  go 
into  the  sixth,  but  it  is  because  he  knows  there  is  a 
sixth.  If  there  were  only  one  he  would  go  into  that. 
The  geographical  distribution  of  licenses  and 
police  drunkenness  shows  that  there  is  no  propor- 
tional relation  between  them.  The  Report  of  the 
Peel  Commission  gives  some  facts  on  this  head. 
Fifteen  counties  are  taken  and  divided  into  two 
groups,  A  and  B,  the  former  containing  the  largest 
number  of  licenses  in  proportion  to  the  population 
and  the  latter  the  smallest  number.  The  counties 
are — (A)  Buckingham,  Bedford,  Cambridge,  Isle  of 
Ely,  Hertford,  Huntingdon,  Shropshire,  and  Stafford- 
shire; (B)  Cheshire,  Cornwall,  Devonshire,  Dur- 
ham, Northumberland,  Lancashire,  Glamorgan.  The 
distribution  of  licenses  and  drunkenness  is  as 
follows : 

Per  100,000 

J  Average  licenses 609 

j  Average  drunkenness 492 

J  Average  licenses 362 

j  Average  drunkenness 892 


142      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

It  is  suggested  that  the  remarkable  discrepancy 
here  shown  may  be  explained  away  by  differences  of 
police  procedure.  I  have  already  (p.  58)  dealt  with 
that  extremely  convenient  way  of  disposing  of  awk- 
ward facts,  and  have  given  reasons  for  attaching  much 
more  value  to  the  police  returns,  as  a  real  index  of 
the  prevalence  of  drunkenness,  than  is  allowed  by 
the  somewhat  disingenuous  argument  alluded  to. 
In  any  case  it  does  not  dispose  of  this  question,  for 
we  have  the  evidence  of  the  Chief  Constable  of  Lan- 
cashire, who  found  that  the  same  discrepancy  exists 
in  his  own  district,  which  is  all  under  the  same 
police  procedure.  '  I  took  the  trouble  to  go  into  the 
details  in  Lancashire  on  that  point  and  I  found  out 
that  where  the  most  houses  are  there  is  less  drunken- 
ness '  (vol.  i,  p.  394).  An  examination  of  the  re- 
turns for  Scottish  towns  shows  a  similar  state  of 
things  (vol.  vi,  p.  398) .  So,  too  in  France.  The  prov- 
ince of  Finisterre  has  always  had  fewer  houses  and 
more  drunkenness  than  the  rest  of  France  (Leroy). 

The  broad  meaning  of  all  this  is,  no  doubt,  that 
other  factors  are  more  important  in  determining  the 
habits  of  the  people  than  temptation  in  the  form 
of  public-houses.  Personal  observation  corroborates 
that  conclusion.  If  a  man  does  not  want  to  drink, 
fifty  public-houses  do  not  tempt  him;  if  he  does, 
one  is  enough.  Some  reformers  take  this  view  and 
draw  the  conclusion  that  the  complete  abolition  of 
temptation  by  the  suppression  of  all  public-houses 
will  alone  meet  the  case.  Perhaps  it  would  if  temp- 
tation were  an  important  factor,  but  I  cannot  insist 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE  143 

too  often  and  too  strongly  that  it  is  not.  People  do 
not  drink  because  the  publican  spreads  his  wares 
before  them,  but  because  they  like  drink  and  mean  to 
get  it.  All  experience  proves  that  in  drinking  coun- 
tries deficiency  of  regular  opportunities  is  a  still 
greater  force  of  intemperance  than  excess,  because  it 
drives  people  to  make  for  themselves  irregular  oppor- 
tunities, which  are  not  subject  to  supervision  and 
control.  This  point  is  reached  far  short  of  suppres- 
sion, as  we  see  at  the  present  time  in  the  multipli- 
cation of  drinking  clubs.  There  is  abundant  evidence 
on  the  subject  in  the  minutes  of  the  Peel  Commis- 
sion; but  I  may  quote  a  more  recent  investigation. 
In  his  book  on  '  Poverty  '  Mr.  B.  Seebohm  Rown- 
tree  tells  us  that  in  the  city  of  York  there  is  one 
*  on  '-license  to  every  330  persons,  which  is  consider- 
ably above  the  average  proportion  in  the  large 
and  medium-sized  towns,  and  therefore  *  excessive.* 
Nevertheless  the  working-class  population  supports 
five  political  clubs,  where  drink  is  sold,  and  nine 
others  which  '  exist  primarily  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
viding drinking  facilities.'  Two  of  the  latter  are  in 
a  very  poor  part  of  the  city  and  are  largely  frequented 
by  Irish  labourers. 

*  The  police  state  that  beer  is  taken  into  the  clubs 
in  quantities  of  several  barrels  at  a  time,  and  that 
much  drunkenness  occurs  in  them.  Drunken  men 
have  been  seen  through  the  windows  of  one  of  these 
clubs  lying  on  the  wooden  forms,  but  the  members 
are  careful  not  to  allow  any  one  to  leave  the  club  until 
he  is  sober  enough  to  escape  the  risk  of  a  summons 
for  being  drunk  in  the  streets.    Often  members  will 


144      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

remain  in  the  club  through  the  night  and  even  from 
Saturday  until  Monday.  *  ^ 

The  balance-sheet  of  one  of  the  other  clubs  showed 
an  expenditure  of  1,6121.  on  intoxicating  drink  in  the 
year.  The  number  of  men  entering  the  club  during 
the  hours  it  was  open  on  Sunday,  August  12,  1900, 
was  counted.  There  were  601,  of  whom  248  brought 
out  drink  in  jugs  and  bottles. 

This  little  glimpse  into  what  happens  under  the 
present  comparatively  mild  restrictions,  and  in  a 
place  provided  with  *  excessive  '  facilities,  is  pro- 
foundly instructive.  The  multiplication  of  clubs  is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  newer  parts  of 
the  town,  where  the  industrial  classes  chiefly  reside, 
very  few  licenses  have  been  granted.  The  people 
have  evaded  an  irksome  social  law,  as  they  always 
do  and  always  will,  and  have  created  their  own 
facilities,  which  are  much  more  harmful  than  those 
which  the  law  has  refused  them.  Nor  is  it  possible 
ever  to  prevent  natural  appetites  from  having  their 
way.  If  clubs  are  regulated  in  such  a  manner  that 
regulation  is  too  irksome,  evasion  will  merely  take 
some  other  and  probably  still  more  objectionable 
form.  In  the  last  resort  people  would  supply  them- 
selves with  drink,  for  alcohol  can  be  manufactured 
from  anything  containing  sugar  or  starch. 

The  general  conclusion  on  this  branch  of  the 
subject  is  that  both  numerical  excess  and  deficiency 
of  opportunities  promote  intemperance  in  drinking 

*  Poverty,  by  B.  Seebohm  Rowntree:  supplementary  chapter, 
p.  327. 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       145 

countries,  the  one  by  rendering  supervision  inefficient, 
the  other  by  fostering  clandestine  traffic,  which  es- 
capes supervision  altogether.  As  to  what  constitutes 
excess  the  police  are  the  proper  judges.  They  have 
to  supervise  the  traffic  in  the  interests  of  public  order, 
and  they  know  when  the  task  is  beyond  them.  I 
should  be  guided  by  the  chief  constable  of  a  town  or 
district.  If  he  found  that  the  number  of  licensed 
houses  was  too  great  for  effective  supervision,  I 
should  reduce  them.  On  the  other  hand  numerical 
deficiency  is  disclosed  by  the  appearance  and  multi- 
plication of  drinking  clubs  or  by  still  more  clandes- 
tine methods  of  evasion. 

So  much  for  numerical  opportunities.  The  same 
principles  apply  broadly  to  time  opportunities,  but 
the  grounds  are  somewhat  different.  I  attach  the 
utmost  importance  to  hours  of  closing,  and  am  con- 
vinced that  no  controllable  factor  has  so  great  an 
influence  on  intemperance.  That  conclusion  is  the 
result  of  observation,  corroborated  by  abundant  his- 
torical evidence.  Unlimited  hours  used  to  have  a 
disastrous  effect  in  this  country,  and  successive  re- 
strictions have  been  uniformly  successful,  with  the 
exception  of  total  closing  on  Sunday,  which  has  given 
rise  to  considerable,  though  perhaps  temporary, 
trouble  in  large  towns.  The  complete  control  of 
hours  is  the  most  practical  and  solid  advantage  per- 
taining to  the  Gothenburg  system.  I  know  a  public- 
house  in  London,  much  frequented  by  a  disorderly 
class  of  customers,  which  is  voluntarily  closed  early 
in   the   afternoon    on    bank    holidays,    because    the 


146       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

publican  finds  it  impossible  to  maintain  order  if  the 
house  remains  open  all  day.  The  reason  why  long 
and  late  hours  conduce  to  intemperance  is  that  some 
customers  go  on  drinking  after  they  have  had  enough, 
merely  to  pass  the  time.  The  last  hour  before  closing 
is  the  drunkard's  hour. 

Much  stress  is  often  laid  on  certain  other  features 
of  the  public-house  as  the  cause  or  occasion  of  ex- 
cessive drinking.  The  gas-lights  in  the  window, 
swing  doors,  opaque  glass,  the  arrangement  of  the 
premises — such  as  several  entrances,  the  division  into 
compartments,  '  long  bars  '  and  '  snugs  ' — are  all 
credited  with  an  important  influence.  Numerous 
witnesses  gave  evidence  to  that  effect  before  the 
Peel  Commission.  Such  opinions  are  based  on  a 
limited  experience.  People  see  a  great  deal  of  drink- 
ing carried  on  in  the  town  or  district  where  they  live, 
and  naturally  enough  attribute  it  to  the  conditions 
there  prevailing.  If  their  observations  were  more 
extended  they  would  find  that  the  habits  of  the 
people  are  just  the  same  under  entirely  different 
conditions.  I  have  made  a  study  of  these  things  for 
several  years  in  all  parts  of  this  country  and  in  other 
countries,  and  I  cannot  find  that  the  form  of  the 
premises  makes  any  difference  whatever,  with  the 
exception  of  back  doors  opening  into  yards  and 
other  similar  arrangements,  which  make  supervision 
difficult  and  facilitate  evasion  of  the  law  with  regard 
to  prohibited  hours  and  serving  drunken  persons. 
People  do  not  frequent  the  public-house  for  the  sake  of 
the  lights  in  the  window,  or  because  the  doors  swing 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      147 

and  there  are  several  of  them,  but  to  get  something 
to  drink;  and  they  seek  it  just  as  readily  in  those 
establishments  which  have  an  inconspicuous  exterior, 
no  lights  in  the  window,  only  one  door  and  that  not 
a  swinging  one,  as  in  the  *  flaring  gin-palace/  The 
Company  houses  under  the  Gothenburg  system  are 
carefully  denuded  of  all  adventitious  attractions,  but 
they  are  nevertheless  far  more  thronged  with  cus- 
tomers in  the  busy  hours  than  the  rival  free  beer- 
houses, simply  because  the  men  want  spirits,  which 
they  can  only  get  at  the  Company's  houses,  and  they 
will  go  anywhere  to  get  what  they  want.  Surely  the 
history  of  the  bona  fide  traveller  is  a  sufficient  proof 
of  that.  The  decoration  of  public-houses  is  not  a  new 
thing,  as  I  have  shown.  It  merely  keeps  pace  with 
the  general  movement  towards  greater  size,  elabora- 
tion, and  display  in  shops,  offices,  and  other  buildings. 
It  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  main  thoroughfares  of 
places  much  frequented  by  visitors  and  chance  cus- 
tomers, and  consequently  it  makes  a  show  out  of  all 
proportion  to  its  importance.  The  great  bulk  of  the 
liquor  trade  depends  not  on  chance  but  on  regular 
customers,  who  know  where  to  go  and  care  nothing 
for  exteriors.  This  is  especially  true  of  hard  drinkers. 
In  the  most  drunken  parts  of  the  country — Scotland, 
Ireland,  and  the  North  of  England — public-houses 
are  nearly  always  plain  and  inconspicuous;  and 
those  which  conduce  most  to  intemperance  elsewhere 
are  of  the  same  character.  As  for  the  interior 
it  is  absolutely  immaterial  whether  there  are  *  long 
bars  '  or  '  snugs  ' — which  are  the  exact  opposites  of 


148       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

each  other — compartments  or  bar  parlours,  '  perpen- 
dicular '  drinking  or  seats. 

Then  there  is  the  question  of  providing  food  and 
non-intoxicants,  which  is  also  considered  of  great 
importance.  It  may  be  disposed  of  very  briefly. 
Publicans  provide  what  their  customers  ask  for. 
When  and  where  food  and  non-intoxicants  are 
demanded  they  are  supplied.  I  have  obtained  tea 
and  food  at  pothouses  where  they  have  never  been 
asked  for  before.  After  all,  the  publican's  object  is 
to  make  money,  not  to  sell  beer,  and  if  he  can  make 
it  by  selling  anything  else  he  will.  The  demand  for 
other  things  has  markedly  increased  in  recent  years, 
and  the  supply  is  keeping  pace.  Obviously  it  is  no 
use  suppljdng  things  that  no  one  wants.  The  belief 
that  the  working  man  would  find  his  way  to  the 
coffee  tavern  if  his  eyes  were  not  dazzled  by  the 
lights  of  the  '  gin  palace, '  and  that  when  allured  into 
that  abode  of  misery  he  would  fain  have  a  cup  of 
tea  or  a  bottle  of  lemonade  if  the  publican  did  not 
force  beer  down  his  reluctant  throat,  is  an  amiable 
delusion  arising  out  of  the  temptation  fallacy  and 
based  on  total  ignorance  of  the  working  man's  habits 
and  tastes  and  of  the  conduct  of  the  retail  liquor  trade. 
The  working  man  knows  exactly  what  he  wants,  and 
he  goes  to  a  certain  place  to  get  it.  I  have  just 
mentioned  the  bona  fide  traveller.  He  was  invented 
on  the  temptation  theory.  It  was  believed  that 
persons  would  not  travel  six  miles — three  out  and 
three  back — merely  to  get  a  drink.  We  know  now 
that  numbers  habitually  walk  that  distance  for  no 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      149 

other  purpose;  and  if  it  were  doubled  they  would 
still  go.  Until  reformers  and  legislators  make  some 
attempt  to  rid  their  minds  of  cant,  and  realise  the 
deep  devotion  of  our  people  to  beer,  they  will  continue 
to  prepare  disappointment  for  themselves  and  vain 
trouble  for  the  police. 

Opportunity  in  the  form  of  purchasing  power  has 
an  important  influence  on  the  volume  of  intemper- 
ance. I  have  mentioned  the  effect  of  trade  so  often 
that  I  must  apologise  for  returning  to  it  once  more, 
but  my  list  of  forces  would  be  very  incomplete 
without  it.  The  typical  period  of  prosperity  was 
1868-74.  Exports  of  British  produce  rose  in 
value  from  180  to  256  millions  sterling.  The  chart 
on  the  next  page  shows  graphically  the  effect  on 
consumption  and  police  drunkenness. 

The  diagram  must  be  read  broadly.  The 
drunkenness  curve  is  not  proportionally  comparable 
to  those  of  consumption,  because  it  gives  the 
absolute  number  of  persons  without  reference  to 
increase  of  population,  whereas  the  consumption  is 
reckoned  per  head.  Moreover  a  disturbing  factor 
was  introduced  in  1872  by  the  Licensing  Act,  which 
created  new  offences  and  so  caused  a  sudden  increase 
in  the  returns.  Broadly,  however,  it  shows  well 
enough  the  influence  of  great  prosperity  as  a  force 
of  intemperance.  Any  nujnber  of  diagrams  might 
be  given  to  illustrate  the  same  thing.  Declining 
trade  is  faithfully  reflected  by  downward  curves. 
For  instance  the  years  1885-7  were  years  of  great 
depression.     In  the  winter,  it  may  be  remembered, 


150      DRINT?:,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

1868   1869    1870   1871    1872    1673    1874 


GALLONS 
34 

33 

/^ 

^ 

32 

/ 

^ — 

31 

CONSUMPTIO 

SI  OF 

/ 

30 

BEER 

PER  H 

r/ 

f 

29 

y 

/     s 

V 

28 

y 

/ 

GALLONS 
1.2 

CONS 
SPIRI 

UMPTIC 
T  PER 

>N  OF 
4EAD 

^^ 

-^ 

1.0 
.99 

98 

.97 
.96 

95 

^ 

'  rertoni  procedBd 

against 

for  drunkennew 

180.000 

r^ 

^ 

170.000 

r 

160.000 

/ 

1 

150.000 

DRU 

NKENh 

ESS 

/ 

140.000 

y 

y 

130.000 

/ 

y 

120.000 

/ 

f 

110.000 

y 

/ 

THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      151 

the  unemployed  used  to  parade  the  streets.  The 
consumption  of  beer,  which  had  been  34  gallons  a 
head  in  1874,  fell  to  26.9  gallons,  and  that  of  spirits 
from  1.26  gallon  to  .93  gallon;  at  the  same  time 
police  drunkenness  dropped  from  812  to  636  per 
100,000.  These  facts  corroborate  the  view  that  the 
expenditure  on  drink  is,  broadly  speaking,  voluntary 
and  deliberate.  When  people  can  afford  it  they 
gratify  their  tastes  in  this  way;  when  they  cannot 
they  go  without. 

The  converse  aspect  of  this  law  is  the  depend- 
ence of  consumption  on  the  price  of  liquor,  which  is 
very  clearly  shown  by  the  effect  of  the  various 
changes  in  the  spirit  duty.  In  1825  the  duty  in 
England  was  lowered  from  lis.  S^d,  to  75.  and  the 
consumption  rose  from  7  million  to  nearly  13 
million  gallons.  In  1830  the  duty  was  raised  Qd. 
throughout  the  United  Kingdom  and  consumption 
fell  a  million  gallons.  In  1854  the  duty  was  again 
raised  l5.  4:d.  in  Scotland  and  8d.  in  Ireland;  con- 
sumption dropped  4 J  million  gallons,  but  this  was 
partly  due  to  new  closing  regulations.  In  1860  a 
rise  of  25.  all  round  caused  consumption  to  fall  by 
3  million  gallons.  At  the  same  time  the  lowering  of 
the  duty  on  wine  increased  the  consumption  from 
6}  million  to  lOf  million  gallons.  These  cases  will 
suffice  to  show  the  bearing  of  direct  fiscal  changes 
on  the  drink  question.  It  is  a  point  that  is  fre- 
quently lost  sight  of  in  reckoning  the  consumption 
of  alcohol  and  the  conditions  that  influence  it.  No 
doubt  drink  would  not  stand  an  unlimited  amount 


152      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

of  taxation,  and  too  heavy  an  impost  would  merely 
force  illicit  traffic;  but  short  of  that  it  is  possible 
indirectly  to  exercise  considerable  control  over  con- 
sumption. 

The  acquisition  of  drinking  habits  by  children  is 
a  force  of  intemperance  which  has  attracted  much 
attention.  Legislative  attempts  have  been  made  to 
check  it  by  prohibiting  the  sale  of  drink  to  persons 
under  a  certain  age;  and  these  measures  are  benefi- 
cial with  the  exception  of  the  latest  enactment,  which 
prohibits  children  under  fourteen  from  acting  as 
messengers.  The  sequel  of  this  law  is  an  instructive 
comment  on  legislation  without  knowledge.  Its 
promoters  were  severely  disappointed  by  the  action 
of  the  House  of  Commons  in  preserving  the  right  to 
sell  liquor  to  child  messengers  in  sealed  bottles. 
This  was  regarded  as  a  concession  to  the  trade  emas- 
culating the  measure  and  depriving  it  of  all  value. 
What  has  happened?  The  trade  itself  has  negatived 
the  concession  and  decided  not  to  supply  children 
under  fourteen  at  all.  The  reason  is  obvious.  It  will 
save  the  publican  trouble  and  draw  more  profitable 
customers  to  the  house.  Of  all  persons  who  visit  it 
child  messengers  get  the  least  harm,  and  the  younger 
they  are  the  less  harm  they  get.  The  place  has  no 
attraction  for  them;  they  only  go  because  they  are 
sent,  and  they  leave  it  as  quickly  as  possible.  To 
older  persons  it  is  attractive  and  they  linger  there. 
The  assumption  that  children  learn  to  drink  from 
being  sent  to  the  public-house  is  supported  by  no 
evidence,  and  from  my  own  observation  I  believe  it 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      153 

to  be  quite  erroneous.  The  real  evil,  which  is  very 
great  and  peculiar  to  this  country,  lies  in  the  practice 
of  taking  children  to  the  public-house,  keeping  them 
there,  and  giving  them  drink.  It '  arises  from  that 
mistaken  kindness,  so  characteristic  of  uneducated 
parents,  which  prompts  them  to  share  with  their 
children  whatever  they  have  themselves.  Thus  the 
young  ones  are  taught  to  drink  at  an  age  when  if 
left  alone  they  would  not  touch  liquor.  Naturally 
children  do  not  like  beer  and  detest  spirits;  what 
they  really  love  is  sweets,  which  do  not  go  with 
liquor.  Some  publicans  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
giving  sweets  to  child  messengers,  and  the  practice 
has  been  solemnly  held  up  to  reprobation,  apparently 
in  the  belief  that  children,  attracted  by  the  bait,  go 
off  to  fetch  beer  on  their  own  responsibility.  Of 
course  they  do  nothing  of  the  kind,  and  the  effect 
of  sweets  was  merely  to  determine  the  choice 
between  the  Red  Lion  and  the  Blue  Boar;  but  inci- 
dentally they  formed  a  perfect  safeguard  against 
sipping  from  the  jug  on  the  way  home,  for  no  child 
with  sweets  in  its  mouth  would  have  a  thought  left 
for  beer.  It  would  have  served  temperance  better  to 
have  let  things  alone.  Now  adults  or  older  boys  and 
girls  at  the  most  dangerous  age  will  go  to  the  public- 
house  instead  of  children,  and  will  often  stop  there, 
or  else  a  new  traffic  will  be  created  by  the  systematic 
delivery  of  liquor  at  home.  And  meantime  the  real 
source  of  juvenile  intemperance  is  left  untouched. 
Fortunately  it  is  being  cured  by  education.  The 
practice  of  taking  children  to  the  public-house  and 


154      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

giving  them   drink   is  much   less   common   than   it 
was. 

I  have  now  reviewed  the  main  conditions  that 
make  for  intemperance,  but  behind  them  is  that 
intangible  force  called  public  opinion  and  discussed 
in  the  last  chapter.  As  there  is  a  public  opinion 
which  makes  for  temperance,  so  there  is  one  which 
makes  for  intemperance.  Indulgence  to  excess 
flourishes  where  it  is  regarded  with  indulgence, 
as  it  is  in  this  country.  That  may  seem  a  hard 
saying  to  some  readers,  but  I  think  if  they  will  re- 
flect they  will  admit  its  truth.  The  law  reproves 
drunkenness  in  a  mild  way,  but  a  certain  kind  of 
public  sentiment  rather  encourages  it.  The  drunkard 
is  never  made  to  feel  that  he  has  committed  a  serious 
offence.  In  fact  his  offence  is  not  considered  serious. 
He  is  pitied  a  great  deal  and  punished  very  little. 
Everybody,  except  the  publican  who  chucks  him 
mercilessly  into  the  street,  is  in  a  conspiracy  to  pro- 
tect him  from  the  consequences  of  his  own  conduct. 
A  man  lies  drunk  where  he  runs  a  risk  of  being  run 
over,  or  he  is  lurching  about  and  likely  to  fall  into 
water  or  into  some  dangerous  spot.  Everybody 
lends  him  a  helping  hand  out  of  danger  and  even 
assists  him  to  get  home.  He  is  an  object  of  sym- 
pathy mingled  with  some  contempt;  but  the  con- 
tempt does  not  hurt  him,  while  the  sympathy  is  prac- 
tical. It  is  practical  encouragement.  He  lives  to 
get  drunk  another  day,  and  with  a  well-founded  con- 
viction that  when  next  *  overcome  '  some  friendly 
hand  will  take  care  that  he  comes  to  no  hurt.    If  he 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE       155 

commits  a  crime  or  misdemeanour,  drunkenness  is 
confidently  pleaded  as  an  excuse.  It  is  frequently 
accepted  in  mitigation  by  the  Bench,  and  rarely  fails 
to  touch  the  sympathy  of  the  public.  The  *  poor 
fellow  *  did  not  know  what  he  was  doing;  he  meant 
no  harm;  he  bears  an  excellent  character  when 
sober,  and  so  on.  As  the  subject  of  jokes  drunken- 
ness is  the  chief  stock-in-trade  of  many  humorists; 
some  comic  papers  live  on  it.  They  hold  it  up  to 
ridicule,  but  always  with  an  indulgent  smile.  The 
more  hypocritical  criminals  habitually  allege  that  they 
*  fell  through  drink  '  in  order  to  commend  themselves 
to  the  philanthropic,  who  accept  this  miserable  and 
generally  false  excuse  and  burn  with  zeal  against  the 
iniquitous  liquor  traffic.  Not  long  ago  a  wretched 
youth  who  finished  a  career  of  habitual  self-indul- 
gence by  murdering  an  old  woman  for  money  wrote 
a  farewell  letter  to  his  family,  embodying  with  sin- 
gular naivete  the  current  doctrine  of  irresponsibility. 

*  It  looks  to  me  as  I  am  born  unlucky,  for  I  have 
never  been  able  to  get  on.  I  have  had  good  chances 
in  my  life,  but  that  cursed  drink  has  been  my  down- 
fall, and  I  hope  the  other  boys  will  not  make  it  a 
practice  to  spend  their  time  in  the  public-house,  but 
do  as  you  bid  them  to.' 

It  is  not  his  fault,  observe;  he  is  not  to  blame. 
He  was  *  born  unlucky  '  yet  had  *  good  chances. '  He 
did  not  throw  them  away :  it  was  the  *  cursed  drink  ' 
that  was  his  *  downfall.'  In  the  mind  of  this  youth 
we  see  the  working  of  the  theory  of  temptation. 
The  '  cursed  drink  '  is  his  excuse.    That  stereotyped 


156      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

phrase  relieves  Mm  of  all  responsibility  for  a  life 
admittedly  spent  in  self-indulgence  and  crime. 
When  brought  to  the  gallows  he  is  sorry,  but  clears 
himself  by  denouncing  the  inanimate  instrument  of 
his  vice.  As  well  may  the  glutton  denounce  food, 
the  extravagant  woman  blame  silk  and  velvet,  or  the 
spendthrift  attribute  his  ruin  to  the  trades  which 
have  supplied  him  with  costly  luxuries.  The  plea  is 
not  made  in  their  case,  and  if  made  would  be  ridiculed. 
The  drunkard  has  learned  to  make  it  from  the  con- 
fused teachings  of  those  '  temperance  '  reformers  who 
do  not  see  that  to  minimise  the  moral  responsibility 
of  the  vicious  is  to  encourage  vice. 

Let  me  quote  a  healthier  sentiment  from  those 
who  know  the  drunkard  as  he  is. 

*  At  a  meeting  of  the  Medico-Psychological  Asso- 
ciation of  Great  Britain  in  Edinburgh,  Dr.  Wilson, 
superintendent  of  the  Mavisbank  Asylum,  Midlothian, 
read  a  paper  on  **  The  Mismanagement  of  Drunk- 
ards.'' He  said  he  would  like  to  see  a  clause  in  the 
Habitual  Drunkards  Bill,  then  before  Parliament, 
which  would  provide  for  the  flogging  of  drunkards, 
under  appropriate  and  necessary  supervision.  The 
notion  of  heredity  did  nothing  to  help  the  drunkard, 
but  everything  to  injure  him.  The  latter  felt  he 
was  compelled  to  give  way  to  drink.  A  young  man 
so  influenced  should  be  flogged  within  an  inch  of 
his  life,  every  time  he  took  drink.  Another  excuse 
used  with  great  effect  by  the  drunkard  was  the  myth 
of  a  crave  for  alcohol.  The  crave  was  a  very  excep- 
tional thing.  The  appropriate  treatment  for  the 
alcoholic  crave  was  a  good  blistering  and  the  ap- 
plication of  plasters,  and  he  would  guarantee  that 
there  would  be  no  craving  in  Scotland  for  the  next 


THE  FORCES  OF  INTEMPERANCE      157 

five  years.  Drunkards  were  inveterate  idlers,  who 
had  to  be  taught  to  work ;  they  were  untruthful,  slan- 
derers, and  intensely  selfish. 

*  Dr.  Clouston,  superintendent  of  the  Morningside 
Asylum,  Edinburgh,  said  they  had  too  long  been  sub- 
jected to  mawkish  sentimentalism.  Every  man  who 
became  a  disgraceful  inebriate  had  passed  through  a 
stage  at  which  he  might  have  been  saved  by  the  appli- 
cation of  such  treatment  as  Dr.  Wilson  advocated.  * 

I  have  some  more  observations  to  make  on  the 
drunkard  in  the  chapters  on  *  The  Public-house  '  and 
*  Habitual  Inebriates,  *  and  will  here  merely  commend 
the  views  of  these  able  and  experienced  observers  to 
the  reader  as  a  set-off  against  the  doctrines  of  tempta- 
tion and  craving  which  have  been  preached  so  long 
to  the  encouragement  of  the  self-indulgent. 

We  have  the  drunkards  we  deserve. 


158      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  PRINCIPLES   OP  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  focus  the  facts  and 
considerations  contained  in  the  previous  chapters 
into  some  lessons  bearing  on  the  practical  question 
of  legislation.  We  have  seen  that  intemperance  has 
always  prevailed  in  this  country;  that  it  has  been 
much  worse  in  the  past  than  it  is  now;  that  various 
forces,  of  which  legislation  is  one,  have  gone  towards 
improvement;  and  that  various  others  remain  which 
oppose  it.  What,  then,  can  be  done  to  further  the 
process  of  improvement  already  in  progress?  What 
part  should  legislation  play  in  it  ? 

There  are  two  extreme  schools  of  thought,  whose 
views  may  be  noticed  to  clear  the  ground  before 
answering  these  questions.  The  one  maintains  that 
legislation  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  personal 
liberty  at  all  in  this  matter,  and  that  all  liquor  laws 
are  merely  mischievous;  the  other  that  our  existing 
laws  have  all  failed  completely  because  they  do  not 
interfere  enough,  that  the  evil  is  getting  rapidly 
worse,  and  that  far  more  drastic  remedies  must  be 
applied.  Having  failed  to  prevent  excessive  drinking, 
they  propose  to  prevent  drinking  altogether. 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     159 

The  argument  of  individual  liberty  would  be 
valid,  if  it  were  not  for  the  drunkard.  I  have  the 
most  absolute  right  to  interfere  with  him,  because 
he  interferes  with  me.  It  is  the  same  right  that 
entitles  the  community  to  interfere  with  the  criminal. 
Both  are  nuisances,  and  for  my  own  part  I  prefer 
the  criminal.  I  can  protect  myself  against  him  in 
various  ways,  but  from  the  drunkard  there  is  no 
escape.  He  lurches  up  against  me  in  the  street,  he 
wants  to  embrace  or  fight  me  in  the  train,  he  terrifies 
my  wife  and  children,  while  I  am  taxed  to  pay  for 
his.  His  conduct  gives  the  community  a  right  to 
make  any  laws  which  are  likely  to  repress  him  without 
unduly  interfering  with  the  liberty  of  other  and  un- 
offending individuals.  Such  regulation  of  the  liquor 
traffic  as  falls  within  this  definition  is  both  lawful 
and  expedient. 

The  answer  to  the  other  school  is  that  the 
drastic  legislation  they  advocate  does  not  fall  within 
the  definition,  and  that  their  premises  are  erroneous. 
Other  measures  have  not  wholly  failed,  and  the  evil 
is  not  getting  worse.  But  failure  to  carry  out 
comparatively  mild  laws  is  a  curious  argument  for 
enacting  severe  ones;  for  in  a  free  country  laws  are 
carried  out  just  in  so  far  as  they  accord  with  public 
sentiment.  When  mild  ones  are  evaded  or  slackly 
administered,  what  chance  is  there  for  severe  ones 
which  would  infringe  the  rights  of  unoffending  in- 
dividuals ? 

Turning  from  this  counsel  of  despair,  reformers, 
I  think,  may  find  both  encouragement  and  enlighten- 


160      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

ment  in  the  lessons  of  the  past.  Some  measures 
have  failed,  but  others  have  succeeded,  in  part  at 
least.  It  is  possible  to  succeed  again;  but  how? 
Obviously  when  fresh  legislation  is  contemplated  in 
such  a  thorny  and  intricate  business  as  this,  some 
guide  is  wanted  to  steer  a  way  through  the  pitfalls 
on  every  side.  Some  test  is  needed  to  distinguish 
between  the  courses  offered  to  the  Legislature  in 
order  to  avoid  futile  and  mischievous  steps  and  to 
ensure  real  advance.  In  other  words,  it  is  necessary 
to  lay  down  some  principles. 

It  is  a  surprising  thing  that  hitherto  no  attempt 
has  been  made  to  formulate  any  such  principles. 
No  question,  except  finance,  has  so  long,  so  generally, 
and  so  persistently  engaged  the  attention  of  legis- 
latures; none  has  been  the  subject  of  more 
experiments;  none  has  been  more  discussed  and 
investigated.  One  would  have  expected  some 
generalisations  to  have  been  made  about  it  ere  this; 
but  the  very  latest  official  investigation,  devised 
upon  the  largest  scale  and  entrusted  with  an  inquiry 
of  the  broadest  scope,  spent  some  three  years  on  it 
without  even  betraying  the  slightest  consciousness 
that  there  might  be  any  such  thing  as  a  principle  in- 
volved. It  is  not  for  lack  of  material.  We  have 
in  this  country  an  experience  of  several  centuries, 
during  which  the  Legislature  has  repeatedly  tackled 
the  liquor  question,  and  hammered  and  tinkered  at 
it,  mainly  in  one  direction.  In  other  countries  we 
have  every  conceivable  experiment  in  other  directions 
spread  out  for  our  edification.    Surely  some  general 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     161 

lessons  can  be  drawn  from  all  this  mass  of  material 
which  would  raise  the  question  a  little  out  of  the 
chaotic  confusion  surrounding  it  and  keep  it  from 
being  so  often  the  sport  of  theory,  assumption, 
sentiment,  passion,  prejudice,  and  self-interest.  The 
Peel  Commission  gave  no  help.  It  merely  took  up 
one  point  after  another,  without  any  plan  or  order, 
found  them  all  in  an  unsatisfactory  state,  and 
proposed  a  long  and  promiscuous  list  of  amendments, 
based  on  no  principle  and  sometimes  inconsistent. 
There  is  nothing  to  show  that  these  proposals 
would  not  repeat  past  blunders  or  would  produce 
any  more  satisfactory  results.  What  we  want  to 
know  is :  How  far  and  why  measures  have  succeeded 
or  failed;  what  makes  the  difference  between 
good  and  bad  legislation;  what  law  can  do  and  what 
it  can  not.  I  venture  to  offer  some  suggestions  towards 
the  elucidation  of  these  questions. 

What  are  the  essential  functions  of  the  law? 
To  preserve  order,  to  maintain  justice,  and  to  protect 
the  community.  Magistrates  are  *  Justices  of  the 
Peace.'  It  is  not  the  function  of  the  law  to  make 
people  good.  Whenever  it  tries  to  do  that  it  fails. 
The  attempt  has  often  been  made  to  deal  with  various 
forms  of  vicious  self-indulgence;  to  abolish  ex- 
travagance, for  instance,  by  sumptuary  laws;  to 
suppress  idleness,  prostitution,  gambling,  and  betting ; 
and  the  sole  result  has  been  to  bring  the  law  into 
contempt.  Moral  evils  can  only  be  effectually  com- 
bated by  moral  agencies.  The  law  can  properly 
deal  with  them  in  so  far  as  they  constitute  a  public 


fl 


162      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

nuisance  and  a  cause  of  disorder.  It  does  so,  in  fact, 
with  a  certain  amount  of  success.  That  is  the 
principle  on  which  gambling  and  prostitution  are 
dealt  with  in  western  communities.  The  imperfect 
success  attending  this  modest  aim  significantly  marks 
the  limit  of  practicable  interference  with  natural 
appetites.  When  pushed  beyond  it  the  result  is 
failure,  and  worse  than  failure,  through  the  dis- 
inclination and  corruption  of  the  executive.  Some 
forms  of  vice,  such  as  gluttony,  avarice,  and  idleness, 
cannot  be  touched  at  all,  because  they  do  not  infringe 
public  order  and  decency.  Indirectly,  indeed,  the 
law  can  sometimes  encourage  or  discourage  vicious 
courses,  but  its  direct  interference  is  limited  to  the 
point  at  which  public  *  tranquillity,*  as  the  French 
code  has  it,  is  threatened.  In  other  words  the  com- 
munity can  only  interfere  with  the  individual  when 
the  individual's  conduct  interferes  unpleasantly  with 
the  community.  The  reason  is  plain.  The  com- 
munity itself  is  on  the  side  of  the  inoffensive 
individual,  through  fellow-feeling,  and  in  self-protec- 
tion it  frustrates  the  administration  of  laws  which 
are  out  of  sympathy  with  its  sense  of  justice  and 
freedom. 

It  is  sometimes  argued  that  the  objection  of 
failure  or  inefficiency  may  be  equally  urged  against 
criminal  law,  which  often  fails  in  practice.  The 
argument  betrays  confusion  of  mind.  Criminal  law 
is  directed  against  the  criminal  for  the  protection  of 
the  community,  and  against  no  one  else;  its  enact- 
ment cannot  increase  crime,  and  its  administrative 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     163 

failure  entails  no  ill  consequences,  except  a  corre- 
sponding degree  of  impunity  for  the  criminal. 
Sumptuary  law  is  directed  against  the  community  in 
general;  when  it  is  defied  the  law  is  brought  into 
general  contempt;  when  it  is  evaded  by  resort  to 
clandestine  methods,  it  defeats  its  own  object  by 
perpetuating  the  evil  in  a  worse  form.  Total  pro- 
hibition of  a  trade  which  exists  to  satisfy  a  natural 
appetite  of  the  community,  because  some  are 
tempted  to  vicious  excess,  is  not  analogous  to 
criminal  law,  but  to  one  which  would  prohibit  shop- 
keeping  because  some  are  thereby  tempted  to 
extravagance  or  theft.  '  To  legislate  against  natural 
appetites,*  says  Dr.  Vivian  Poore  in  his  *  Medical 
Jurisprudence,  *  '  is  absurd.  * 

Now  intemperance  in  drink  is  a  vice  standing 
in  the  same  relation  to  the  law  as  the  other  forms  of 
self-indulgence  mentioned,  and  only  amenable  to  the 
same  treatment.  It  causes  more  disorder  than  they 
do,  and  is  therefore  more  liable  to  compulsory  inter- 
ference, but  the  principle  is  the  same.  And  if  we 
examine  the  effects  of  liquor  legislation  we  find  that 
principle  abundantly  illustrated.  Several  measures 
passed  from  time  to  time  in  this  country  have  been 
mentioned  in  previous  chapters  as  having  produced 
markedly  beneficial  results.  There  were  the  Metro- 
politan Police  Act  of  1839,  the  Closing  Acts  of  1848 
and  1854-5  and  1864,  the  Wine  and  Beer-house  Act 
of  1869,  and  the  Licensing  Acts  of  1872  and  1874. 
I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  there  were  not  others, 


164      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

but  I  mention  these  because  there  is  no  doubt  what- 
ever about  the  good  effect  produced.  I  have  already 
quoted  some  of  the  evidence,  and  need  not  repeat  it. 
The  object  of  all  these  successful  enactments  or  of 
the  successful  portions  of  them  was  the  suppression 
of  disorder.  They  were  directed  against  particular 
and  proved  causes  and  occasions  of  disorder.  Take 
the  1839  Act.  It  was  intended  to  stop  the  intoler- 
able scandals,  described  at  length  above  (p.  36),  in 
the  streets  of  London  on  Sunday,  and  particularly 
Sunday  morning.  The  cause  of  that  nuisance  was 
the  continuous  drinking  in  public-houses  from 
Saturday  night  till  Sunday,  and  throughout  the  day. 
The  Act  closed  the  houses  for  twelve  hours  from 
midnight  on  Saturday,  and  the  disorder  ceased.  The 
people  who  got  drunk  on  Saturday  night  had  time 
to  get  sober  before  they  turned  out  on  Sunday. 

When  I  originally  published  the  greater  part  of 
the  chapter  on  '  Drink  in  the  Past  '  in  the  form  of  a 
separate  essay,  a  gentleman  who  could  remember 
the  state  of  things  described,  and  had  himself  sat  on 
the  Essex  Bench  at  Stratford  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
wrote  to  me  giving  his  experience  and  the  reasons 
for  the  *  decline  of  the  dreadful  state  of  things 
mentioned  in  the  article.'  '  He  could  remember,* 
he  said,  *  black  Mondays  when  working  men  were 
kept  under  the  influence  of  the  public-house  until 
they  had  spent  all  their  wages.' 

*  This  was  cured  by  the  forty-second  clause  of  the 
Metropolitan  Police  Act,  1839.  The  twelve  hours 
that  all  licensed  houses  were  kept  closed  till  midday 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     165 

on  Sunday  obliged  the  man  to  go  home,  and  he  be- 
came sober  and  hungry  and  the  money  left  found 
food  for  himself  and  family,  and  he  was  able  to 
begin  work  on  Monday  morning.  In  1848  this  clause 
for  Sunday  closing  became  part  of  a  general  Act, 
which  began  by  mentioning  the  good  effect  produced 
by  it  in  the  London  district/ 


It  may  be  said  that  nearly  all  the  closing  regula- 
tions passed  from  time  to  time  have  been  based  on 
the   same   ground — namely,   that   particular   trouble 
ensued  from  having  public-houses  open  at  the  hours 
in  question ;  and  they  have  been  markedly  successful. 
The  only  point  on  which  some  difference  of  opinion 
exists  is  with  regard  to  total  closing  on  Sunday ;  and 
the  exception  is  significant,  for  that  step  goes  beyond 
the  needs  of  public  order.    It  is  designed  to  prevent 
people  from   drinking  at  all  on  Sunday  and  is  a 
measure  of  compulsory  virtue.     Hence  it  has  pro- 
duced   friction    and    trouble    in    large    towns,    has 
stimulated  illicit  traffic  and  evasion  of  the  law.     It 
is  said  by  believers  in  compulsory  virtue  that  the 
police  have  now  got  over  those  difficulties.     It  may 
be  so,  but  they  have  a  way  of  breaking  out  afresh; 
and  the  police  have  most  certainly  not  got  over  all 
of  them.    At  any  rate  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they 
occurred,  and  the  conclusion  suggested  is  that  a  less 
drastic  restriction,  framed  to  preserve  order,  not  to 
promote  virtue,  would  have  produced  all  the  benefits 
derived  from    Sunday   closing  without   any   of   the 
drawbacks.     Is    it    a    mere    coincidence    that    the 
average    police    drunkenness — that    is,    disorder — is 


166       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

greater,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  in  all  the  three 
portions  of  the  kingdom  where  total  Sunday  closing 
obtains,  than  in  England  where  it  does  not? 

The  Act  of  1869  was  directed  against  the  multipli- 
cation and  maintenance  of  disorderly  beer-houses,  and 
is  an  excellent  example  of  the  legitimate  and  success- 
ful application  of  the  law. 

The  most  important  provisions  of  the  Acts  of 
1872  and  1874  were  directly  aimed  at  further  purify- 
ing the  liquor  traffic  of  its  disorderly  elements.  The 
drunkard  himself  and  the  publican  who  encouraged 
him  were  both  more  severely  dealt  with  than  before ; 
the  powers  of  the  police  were  enlarged  and  the  hours 
of  sale  once  more  regulated.  The  Act  of  1872  clearly 
went  as  far  as  was  safe  at  the  time  in  dealing  with 
the  traffic,  for  the  severity  of  the  penalties  for  some 
offences  interfered  with  administration  through  the 
reluctance  of  magistrates  to  enforce  them,  and  they 
were  consequently  mitigated  in  1874. 

The  success  of  these  Acts  was  attested  by  numerous 
witnesses  before  the  House  of  Lords  Committee  in 
1876.  Father  Nugent,  who  knew  disorderly  Liver- 
pool as  few  men  knew  it,  said  that  the  Act  of  1872 
*  worked  wonders  '  there.  The  chief  constable  of 
Manchester  declared  that  the  Acts  had  had  '  a 
wonderful  effect  in  improving  the  state  of  the 
firtreets,*  and  similar  evidence  was  given  of  London, 
Birmingham,  Sheffield,  Salford,  Newcastle,  Preston, 
Cardiff,  and  Bristol. 

'  This  improvement,*  says  the  Committee,  *  is  at- 
tributed mainly  to  the  new  closing  regulations,  but 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     167 

it  is  also  due  to  the  abolition  of  a  large  number  of 
the  worst  class  of  beer-houses  under  the  Act  of  1869, 
and  to  the  improved  character  of  licensed  houses 
generally. ' 

The  foregoing  are  examples  of  successful  legisla- 
tion illustrating  my  point.  I  will  now  turn  to  some 
cases  of  unsuccessful  legislation.  One  of  the  greatest 
failures  on  record  was  the  Gin  Act  of  1736,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made.  The  spirit  which 
prompted  it  is  disclosed  in  the  preamble : 

*  Whereas  the  drinking  of  spirituous  liquors  or 
strong  waters  is  become  very  common,  especially 
among  the  people  of  lower  and  inferior  rank,  the 
constant  and  excessive  use  whereof  tends  greatly  to 
the  destruction  of  their  health,  rendering  them  unfit 
for  useful  labour  and  business,  debauching  their  mo- 
rals, and  inciting  them  to  perpetrate  all  manner  of 
vices,  and  the  ill  consequences  of  such  liquors  are 
not  confined  to  the  present  generation,  but  extend  to 
future  ages  and  tend  to  the  devastation  and  ruin  of 
this  kingdom.* 

The  Legislature  is  here  clearly  contemplating  the 
current  intemperance  as  a  moral  evil  and  is  under- 
taking the  task  of  compelling  the  people  to  be  virtu- 
ous. It  did  exactly  what  any  other  legislature  would 
do,  and  what  many  have  done,  in  the  same  frame  of 
mind — it  endeavoured  to  suppress  the  noxious  traffic 
altogether.  The  result  was  to  make  things  so  much 
worse  that  the  Act  had  to  be  hastily  repealed  a  few 
years  later,  just  as  the  various  legislative  attempts  to 
suppress  prostitution  enacted  in  Europe,  and  inspired 


168      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

by  equally  good  motives,  always  had  to  be  repealed 
in  a  few  years.  It  was  not  until  the  English  Parlia- 
ment returned  to  the  policy  of  improving  the  traffic 
by  purging  it  of  its  more  disorderly  elements  that 
any  advance  was  made  against  intemperance. 

Another  notorious  failure  was  the  Beer-house 
Act  of  1830.  It  may  be  called  a  piece  of  theoretical 
legislation.  Its  object  was  not  to  carry  out  the  plain 
duty  of  the  law,  but  to  make  people  better  by  wean- 
ing them  from  spirits  and  withdrawing  them  from 
the  pernicious  influence  of  the  tied-house  system. 
Its  result  is  an  emphatic  warning  against  legislating 
on  theory  for  moral  ends.  '  Never,'  says  the  Peel 
Commission,  *  was  an  Act  passed  which  more 
disastrously  failed  to  fulfil  the  expectations  of  its 
authors.'  This  is  somewhat  of  an  overstatement, 
as  the  policy  was  not  fully  reversed  for  nearly  forty 
years,  whereas  other  measures  in  various  countries 
have  had  to  be  much  more  hastily  repealed;  but  the 
Act  was  undoubtedly  a  false  step,  and  the  condemna- 
tion quoted  is  interesting  as  coming  from  those  who 
recommend  speculative  legislation  on  the  same 
principles  though  in  different  directions. 

The  Act  of  1860  which  gave  rise  to  *  grocers' 
licenses  '  was  on  the  same  lines  and  has  been  equally 
condemned.  It  was  intended  to  wean  people  from 
the  public-house  by  encouraging  home  consumption. 
It  did  encourage  home  consumption,  but  did  not 
wean  people  from  the  public-house,  just  as  the  1830 
Act  encouraged  beer-drinking  without  diminishing 
the  popularity  of  spirits.    Opinions  may  differ  as  to 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     169 

the  harm  done  by  grocers*  licenses,  but  there  is  no 
point  on  which  temperance  reformers  insist  more 
strongly,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  any  one  claims 
success  for  the  Act  in  diminishing  drunkenness  or 
drinking. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  go  through  all  the 
enactments  that  have  been  placed  on  the  Statute- 
book  in  this  country;  I  merely  wish  to  put  before 
the  reader  sufficient  examples  to  make  my  meaning 
clear.  They  may  be  supplemented  by  a  few  refer- 
ences to  foreign  legislation. 

One  of  the  most  instructive  examples  is  the 
Gothenburg  system,  which  has  succeeded  or  failed 
precisely  in  accordance  with  the  view  taken  of  its 
intention.  Its  opponents  point  out  the  undeniable 
fact  that  it  has  not  made  the  people  sober,  and  say 
that  it  has  failed;  its  more  enthusiastic  advocates 
here  maintain  that  it  would  make  them  sober  if  the 
system  embraced  the  control  of  beer  as  well  as  that  of 
spirits.  Now  in  Gothenburg  I  was  taught  to  regard 
both  these  arguments  as  wide  of  the  mark.  Mr. 
Willerding,  who  had  assisted  in  the  movement  from 
its  birth  and  who  certainly  understood  the  principle 
and  the  objects  with  which  it  was  adopted  better  than 
any  man  in  the  place,  insisted  with  the  greatest 
earnestness  that  it  was  not  understood  in  England. 
He  had  shortly  before  gone  all  the  way  to  London 
for  the  purpose  of  explaining  it  at  a  public  meeting, 
but  the  object  of  the  meeting  was  apparently 
advertisement  rather  than  instruction,  and  the  one 
man   present   who   understood   the    subject   had   to 


170      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

make  way  for  prominent  persons  who  did  not.  The 
point  which  he  repeatedly  impressed  on  my  mind 
was  that  the  system  was  not  inaugurated  to  make 
people  sober,  but  to  do  away  with  the  gross  and 
scandalous  abuses  connected  with  the  existing  spirit 
traffic,  which  were  the  cause  of  intolerable  disorder. 
In  that  aim  it  succeeded  very  well  indeed. 

The  Scandinavian  liquor  legislation  in  general 
teaches  the  same  lesson.  It  is  not  a  question  of  one 
system  versus  another,  of  *  disinterested  manage- 
ment '  versus  local  veto,  as  controversialists  will 
have  it,  but  of  the  object  in  view  and  the  limits  of 
compulsion.  During  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  both  Norway  and  Sweden  were  drowned  in 
spirits.  Anybody  could  distil  and  sell  the  stuff, 
which  was  made  everywhere.  In  1829  there  were  in 
Sweden  173,124  stills,  and  in  1833  the  number  in 
Norway  was  9,727.  There  was,  in  fact,  free  trade 
in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  spirits.  It  produced 
the  same  effects  as  in  England  a  century  before. 
The  cause  was  obvious,  and  eventually  the  legislature 
had  to  grapple  with  it.  Norway  took  the  lead  in 
1845-8  by  restricting  the  sale  and  manufacture. 
This  is  a  clear  case  of  sound  legislation.  Free  trade 
caused  gross  disorder;  the  law  stopped  it  without 
any  oppressive  interference  and  consequently  with 
success.  In  1850  the  distilleries  had  been  reduced 
to  40.  But  the  usual  counsels  of  impossible  perfec- 
tion were  heard  and  nearly  prevailed.  '  It  nearly 
happened,'  says  Mr.  Berner,  of  Christiania,  *  that  a 
resolution    prohibiting   the   sale   of   liquors   became 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     171 

law.*  Fortunately  the  Norwegian  Parliament  had 
sufficient  sense  to  avoid  this  snare.  *  It  was  real- 
ised/ he  continues,  '  that  in  view  of  the  then  exist- 
ing customs  of  the  people,  such  a  step  would  be 
chimerical.*  Accordingly  there  was  restriction  but 
no  prohibition.  The  same  capacity  to  recognise 
what  is  possible  and  what  is  not  was  shown  in 
Sweden,  when  the  problem  was  handled  there  in 
1855.  Manufacture  and  sale  were  restricted  and  a 
very  sensible  distinction  was  drawn  between  town 
and  country.  In  both  a  certain  power  over  the  sale 
of  spirits — a  form  of  limited  local  option — ^was 
granted,  but  in  the  rural  districts  it  was  more 
complete.  The  bar  sale  of  spirits  for  '  on  '-consump- 
tion could  be  locally  prohibited  altogether,  but  not 
in  the  towns.  *  As  long,'  says  Dr.  Sigfrid  Wiesel- 
gren,  *  as  brandy  was  considered  a  legitimate  article 
of  commerce,  the  towns,  being  centres  of  the  trade, 
could  not  exclude  it;  an  attempt  to  do  so  would 
have  thrown  the  traffic  into  unlawful  channels,  to 
the  great  detriment  of  morality,  temperance,  and 
order.'  The  towns,  however,  could  place  the  sale  of 
spirits  entirely  in  the  hands  of  a  disinterested  com- 
pany. This  was  done  in  Gothenburg  in  1865. 
Hence  the  name  of  the  system,  which  was  before 
long  adopted  all  over  Sweden  and  Norway.  The 
practical  wisdom  of  the  distinction  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  in  Norway  the  qualified  local  veto  enjoyed 
by  the  country  districts  was  in  1894  extended  to  the 
towns,  and  several  availed  themselves  of  the  chance; 
but  the  change  has  been  accompanied  by  a  marked 


172      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

increase  in  disorder,  and  each  year  the  vote  in  its 
favour  has  diminished.  It  is  evident  that  the  towns 
are  a  safety-valve  to  the  rural  districts,  and  that  the 
limit  of  effective  restriction  has  already  been  reached, 
particularly  in  Norway,  where  the  recent  increase 
in  drunkenness  is  attributed  to  the  sale  of  noxious 
spirituous  concoctions  under  the  name  of  wine.  The 
sale  of  beer  for  consumption  off  the  premises  is  free 
in  both  countries.  The  words  '  prohibition  '  and 
*  local  veto,'  therefore,  can  only  be  applied  to  Scan- 
dinavia in  a  qualified  sense. 

The  favoured  home  of  compulsory  virtue  is  the 
United  States,  where  local  legislatures,  untram- 
meled  by  experience  or  authority  and  secure  in 
their  own  wisdom,  are  free  to  embark  on  the  most 
despotic  experiments  in  sumptuary  law.  In  some 
States  liberty  appears  to  be  preserved  only  by 
general  permission  to  ignore  the  law.  The  liquor 
question  in  particular  presents  a  museum  of  legis- 
lative and  administrative  curiosities,  which  could 
not  fail  to  be  instructive  if  reliable  information 
about  them  were  forthcoming.  Unfortunately  it 
has  everywhere  become  a  matter  of  party  politics, 
and  consequently  those  most  familiar  with  the  facts 
are  often  concerned  to  obscure  the  truth  for  ends 
of  their  own.  Some  disinterested  investigations, 
however,  have  been  made,  among  which  an  inquiry 
instituted  by  a  committee  of  New  York  gentlemen 
appears  to  have  been  conceived  and  carried  out  in 
the    most    judicial    and    penetrating    spirit.^     The 

*  Th£  Liquor  Problem  in  its  Legislative  Aspects  (Houghton, 
MifSin,  &  CompaDy). 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     173 

summary  conclusions,  which  are  signed  by  Mr. 
Charles  W.  Eliot,  Mr.  Seth  Low,  and  Mr.  James  C. 
Carter,  fully  bear  out  the  lessons  that  have  been 
drawn  from  European  experience.  With  regard  to 
the  promotion  of  temperance  by  law  those  gentle- 
men note  that  '  the  influences  of  race  or  nationality 
are  apparently  more  important  than  legislation, '  and 
recognise  that  outward  improvement  secured  by 
legislation  does  not  necessarily  imply  a  real  diminu- 
tion of  drinking.  In  other  words,  they  recognise 
the  limits  of  the  law  in  promoting  moral  improve- 
ment. And  they  clearly  indicate  what  the  aims 
should  be  in  legislating.  *  The  wise  course  for  the 
community  at  large  is  to  strive  after  all  external 
visible  improvement,  even  if  it  be  impossible  to 
prove  that  internal,  fundamental  improvement 
accompanies  it.'  That  is  to  say,  look  after  public 
order  and  leave  morality  to  moral  influences. 
Further — '  That  law  is  best  which  is  best  ad- 
ministered; '  and  the  law  which  is  shown  to  be  the 
worst  administered  is  that  which  most  oversteps  its 
proper  sphere  and  aims  direct  at  compulsory  virtue. 

*  All  restrictions  on  the  licensed  saloons  have  a 
tendency  to  develop  illicit  selling;  but  much  experi- 
ence has  proved  that  illicit  selling  cannot  get  a  large 
development  by  the  side  of  licensed  selling,  if  the 
police  administration  be  at  all  effective.  It  is  only 
in  regions  where  prohibition  prevails  that  illicit  sell- 
ing assumes  large  proportions. 

*  There  have  been  concomitant  evils  of  prohibitory 
legislation.     The  efforts  to  enforce  it  during  forty 


174      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

years  past  have  had  some  unlooked-for  effects  on 
public  respect  for  courts,  judicial  procedure,  oaths 
and  law  in  general,  and  for  officers  of  the  law,  legis- 
lators, and  public  servants.  The  public  have  seen 
law  defied,  a  whole  generation  of  habitual  law- 
breakers schooled  in  evasion  and  shamelessness,  courts 
ineffective  through  fluctuations  of  policy,  delays,  per- 
juries, negligences,  and  other  miscarriages  of  justice, 
officers  of  the  law  double-faced  and  mercenary,  legis- 
lators timid  and  insincere,  candidates  for  office  hypo- 
critical and  truckling,  and  office-holders  unfaithful 
to  pledges  and  to  reasonable  public  expectation. 
Through  an  agitation  which  has  always  had  a  moral 
end  these  immoralities  have  been  developed  and  made 
conspicuous.' 

Restriction  by  local  option  is  more  favourably 
regarded,  because  it  has  public  opinion  more  behind 
it  and  is  less  compulsory.  American  experience 
appears  to  corroborate  Scandinavian  that  suppression 
of  bars  may  be  successfully  carried  out  in  rural 
districts  and  in  those  not  far  from  towns  where 
liquor  can  be  obtained.  Villages  and  suburban 
districts  in  our  own  country  which  are  without  any 
public-house  point  to  the  same  conclusion.  For 
towns  and  industrial  centres  a  lawful  but  reasonably 
restricted  trade  is  found  most  suitable  in  America  as 
elsewhere.  The  restrictions  recommended,  by  the 
New  York  Committee  are  those  which  the  *  experience 
of  many  years  and  many  places  has  shown  to  be 
desirable.*  They  are,  briefly,  the  prohibition  of  sale 
to  minors,  intoxicated  persons,  or  habitual  drunkards ; 
on  Sundays,  holidays,  and  days  of  public  excitement, 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LIQUOR  LEGISLATION     175 

but  *  where  such  a  restriction  is  openly  disregarded, 
as  in  St.  Louis,  it  is  injurious  to  have  it  in  the 
law;  '  saloons  not  to  become  places  of  entertain- 
ment and  play  or  to  be  connected  with  theatres, 
concerts,  and  sporting  exhibitions;  saloons  to  be 
open  to  inspection  from  the  highway;  a  limit  to  the 
hours  of  selling,  '  and  the  shorter  the  hours  the 
better.'  It  has  also  been  *  found  necessary  to 
prevent  the  display  of  obscene  pictures  and  the  em- 
ployment of  women.* 

All  these  restrictions,  with  one  exception,  are 
directly  concerned  with  the  maintenance  of  public 
order  and  decency.  The  exception  is  the  prohibition 
of  sale  to  minors,  which  is  partly  in  the  interest  of 
public  order,  for  young  persons  are  more  quickly 
intoxicated  than  adults,  and  partly  to  prevent  their 
demoralisation.  The  last  is  also  a  legitimate  func- 
tion of  the  State,  which  is  properly  entrusted  with 
the  protection  of  those  who  by  age  or  infirmity  are 
unfit  to  protect  themselves. 

I  trust  that  enough  has  now  been  said  to  show 
that  the  a  posteriori  teachings  of  experience  gathered 
over  a  wide  area  are  quite  in  conformity  with  the  a 
priori  dictates  of  common  sense.  And  when  once  the 
principle  is  grasped  it  is  easily  applied  to  the  exami- 
nation of  legislative  reforms.  It  draws  a  dividing 
line  between  the  spheres  of  legal  and  moral  action 
and  gives  each  its  proper  work  to  do.  They  are 
mutually  interdependent;  moral  influences  must  be 
backed  up,  as  they  advance  step  by  step,  by  the 
laWy  which  in  turn  draws  its  effective  sanction  from 


176      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

them.  But  they  are  distinct.  To  confound  them 
is  to  court  failure  and  disappointment.  Many  are 
tempted  by  the  evils  they  see  to  seek  a  shorter  cut 
to  the  desired  goal,  and  because  moral  influences 
are  too  slow  would  fain  invoke  the  law  to  do  their 
work.    The  short  cut  only  leads  to  a  quagmire. 

Nor  is  that  the  worst  of  it.  I  beg  those  who 
hold  by  the  moral  law  and  its  importance  in  national 
life  to  think  this  matter  over.  There  is  a  strong 
drift  in  the  present  day  towards  the  total  elimination 
of  individual  responsibility  for  all  delinquencies  and, 
by  implication,  for  all  merits.  It  sets  in  two 
directions.  One  is  the  physical  theory,  which  makes 
congenital  tendencies  and  environment  all-impor- 
tant; the  other  is  the  social  theory,  which  attri- 
butes all  evils  to  existing  laws  and  systems  and 
promises  to  abolish  the  former  by  changing  the 
latter,  without  any  regard  to  individuals,  as  if  the 
said  laws  and  systems  had  first  made  themselves  and 
then  dictated  the  conduct  of  individuals.  The 
confusion  between  the  moral  and  legal  spheres  in 
temperance  reform  is  an  example  of  this  muddled 
thinking.  It  belittles  the  moral  element  in  conduct 
by  exaggerating  the  responsibility  of  externals,  and 
can  only  lead  to  moral  deterioration. 


177 


CHAPTER  VIII  ^ 

THEIR    APPLICATION 

The  problem  of  liquor  legislation  has  been  obscured 
and  complicated  by  a  multiplicity  of  phrases  and 
formulas,  to  which  controversy  has  given  an  import- 
ance they  do  not  possess.  Conditions  which  are 
alleged  to  give  rise  to  evils  are  mistaken  for  those 
evils,  and  schemes  which  are  only  means  to  an  end 
have  become  the  end  itself  to  enthusiastic  partisans. 
If  these  things  are  set  aside,  and  the  real  object  kept 
steadily  in  view,  the  problem  is  at  once  simplified. 
The  law  we  want  is  that  which  will  best  secure  good 
order  and  remove  the  abuses  connected  with  the 
consumption  of  an  article,  the  use  of  which  may  be 
voluntarily  abandoned,  but  cannot  be  forcibly  sup- 
pressed. In  pursuance  of  that  aim  we  can  attack  in 
three  directions:  (1)  the  disorderly  person;  (2)  the 
disorderly  place;  (3)  the  disorderly  time — using  the 
word  *  disorderly  '  in  a  general  sense.  There  are 
difficulties  in  connection  with  each,  but  the  worst 
difficulties  arise  from  the  state  of  public  sentiment, 

*  Since  this  chapter  was  written  several  of  the  suggestions 
made  have  been  embodied  in  the  Government  Bill. 


178      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

which  governs  the  administration  more  surely  than 
the  enactment  of  the  law,  and  is  totally  beyond 
control. 

I.   THE  DISORDERLY  PERSON 

The  disorderly  person,  by  whom  I  mean  the 
person  who  gets  drunk,  is  already  dealt  with  every- 
where, but  nowhere  adequately,  nor  likely  to  be.  He 
is  too  much  of  a  pet,  as  I  have  pointed  out  before. 
If  male  drunkards  were  flogged,  and  female  shut  up 
indefinitely,  there  would  be  none  left  in  six  months. 
But  of  course  such  treatment  is  quite  impossible. 
The  truth  is  that  the  community  does  not  seriously 
wish  to  rid  itself  of  this  nuisance.  Even  those  who 
are  most  assiduous  in  calling  for  legislation  care  more 
for  the  suppression  of  the  public-house  than  for  the 
abolition  of  drunkenness.  Yet,  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  public  sentiment  would  support  a  little  strength- 
ening of  the  measures  meted  out  to  those  very 
objectionable  persons  who  reduce  themselves  to  help- 
less imbecility  or  raving  lunacy  in  public,  and  in  pri- 
vate inflict  all  violence,  cruelty,  and  misery  on  those 
about  them.  If  it  will  not,  we  need  expect  no  im- 
provement from  any  *  schemes  '  or  *  systems, '  for  the 
drunkard,  with  public  opinion  at  his  back,  will  easily 
circumvent  them  all.  I  do  not  think  we  are  in  such 
a  hopeless  case  as  that.  The  recent  Act  providing 
for  the  prolonged  incarceration  of  certain  regular 
drunkards  met  with  general  approval,  and  I  suggest 
that  a  more  summary  method  of  dealing  with  casual 
drunkards,  even  if  they  have  committed  no  other 


THEIR  APPLICATION  179 

offence,  would  be  quite  as  well  received  and  much 
more  effective.  The  disposal  of  diseased  inebriates 
is  a  very  difficult  subject,  with  which  I  deal  more  at 
length  in  a  separate  chapter.  I  will  only  say  here 
that  disappointment  awaits  those  who  expect  much 
from  homes,  unless  detention  is  made  perpetual,  and 
that  no  provision  of  the  kind  will  touch  the  mass 
of  male  drunkenness  in  England.  The  ordinary 
deliberate  able-bodied  drunkard,  who  is  in  no  wise  a 
dipsomaniac,  or  in  need  of  medical  treatment,  will 
remain  at  large,  and  will  continue  to  enjoy  himself  in 
his  own  fashion  so  long  as  he  can  find  any  one  to 
keep  him  in  countenance.  But  it  is  well  within  the 
power  of  the  law  to  make  him  feel  that  his  mode 
of  enjoyment  is  offensive  to  other  people.  Two 
things  might  be  done.  The  police  might  deal  more 
summarily  with  him  when  he  is  merely  a  nuisance; 
and  when  he  commits  an  offence  under  the  influence 
of  drink,  his  condition  might  be  regarded  as  an 
aggravation,  and  entail  a  heavier  penalty.  This 
seems  to  me  both  justice  and  common  sense,  for 
such  a  man  deliberately  puts  himself  in  the  way 
of  committing  a  crime  by  getting  drunk.  Better 
protection  against  drunken  husbands  or  wives  should 
be  afforded  to  their  victims,  and  the  law  for  dealing 
with  drunkenness  should  be  uniform  throughout  the 
kingdom. 

n.   THE  DISORDERLY  PLACE 

The     disorderly    place     is     any     establishment — 
whether  pothouse,  club,  refreshment  bar,  or  shop — 


180      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

which  connives  at  drunkenness.  The  club  and  the 
shop  at  present  escape  control  altogether.  With 
regard  to  the  last,  which  practically  means  grocers' 
licenses,  there  should  be  some  power  of  punishing 
those  who  misuse  their  opportunities  to  encourage 
intemperate  customers.  They  do  not  appear  to  be 
many,  but  it  is  impossible  to  resist  the  evidence 
brought  before  the  Peel  Commission  that  there  are 
some,  and  that  their  malpractices  can  be  proved. 
There  should  be  power  to  take  away  their  licenses 
on  proof.  But  if  grocers'  licenses  are  placed  wholly 
under  magisterial  control,  some  will  be  granted  and 
some  refused  for  arbitrary  reasons;  an  unfair  com- 
petition will  thus  be  raised  between  persons  engaged 
in  the  same  harmless  and  indispensable  trade,  a  new 
monopoly  and  a  new  vested  interest  will  be  created. 
The  original  grant  of  a  license  should  therefore  be 
free  as  at  present,  but  its  renewal  should  be  subject 
to  refusal  on  proved  misconduct.  The  threat  would 
probably  be  quite  sufficient  to  ensure  the  good  con- 
duct of  a  trade  which  is  already,  with  but  few 
exceptions,  perfectly  respectable  and  orderly,  and  a 
great  convenience  to  a  large  class  of  perfectly 
respectable  people. 

With  regard  to  clubs,  they  have  become  the 
source  of  much  trouble  and  disorder,  and  one  which 
is  capable  of  indefinite  expansion.  It  is  worse  than 
useless  to  treat  licensed  houses  more  stringently 
until  unlicensed  ones  are  brought  under  control, 
and  the  history  of  the  public-house  shows  that  control 
is  a  farce  unless  the  police  have  power  of  entry. 


THEIR  APPLICATION  181 

It  would  be  no  more  oppressive  to  decent  clubs  than 
it  is  to  decent  hotels ;  the  members  of  the  one  would 
see  and  hear  no  more  of  the  police  inspector  than 
the  inmates  of  the  other,  and  that  is  just  nothing  at 
all.  Proprietary  clubs  would  have  to  be  converted 
into  members'  clubs,  of  course,  but  that  presents  no 
serious  difficulty.  The  present  sale  of  liquor  in 
them  is  totally  illegal,  and  the  Inland  Revenue 
Department  is  only  prevented  from  prosecuting  by 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  evidence.  Opposition  to 
control  offered  by  workmen's  clubs  amounts  to  self- 
indictment,  for  only  those  with  something  to  conceal 
have  anything  to  fear.  Hostility  to  the  police  is 
always  suspect;  it  ranges  those  who  entertain  it 
with  the  criminal  classes,  who  alone  fear  the  police. 
The  fact  that  such  opposition  has  been  offered  is  one 
of  the  strongest  arguments  for  the  need  of  control. 

Then  we  come  to  the  public-house — a  difficult 
subject,  but  less  complicated  than  it  is  made  to 
appear.  There  are  disorderly  and  ill-conducted 
houses;  the  object  is  to  get  rid  of  them.  Two  com- 
prehensive plans,  which  are  a  departure  from  our 
present  system,  are  proposed,  and  may  be  considered 
first.  One  is  local  option,  and  the  other  disinterested 
management.  In  principle  I  can  see  no  fundamental 
objection  to  either.  With  regard  to  local  option,  the 
case  depends  on  the  conditions.  If  a  community 
really  desires  to  abolish  any  institution  which  it 
finds  offensive,  it  clearly  has  a  natural  right  to  do 
so,  provided  that  this  entails  no  interference  with 
the    prior    rights    of    others,    and    no    hardship    on 


182      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

unoffending  individuals.  Thus,  if  the  suppression 
of  public-houses  in  a  place  is  desired  by  every  one, 
except  drunkards  and  the  publicans  who  live  on 
them,  it  is  quite  justifiable.  I  do  not  know  if 
there  are  any  such  places,  but  there  may  be.  If 
it  means,  on  the  other  hand,  that  A  and  B  are  to 
control  the  tastes  and  habits  of  C,  who  does  not 
interfere  with  them,  it  is  merely  a  revival  in  modem 
form  of  the  old  religious  intolerance,  which  had  an 
equally  good  motive.  This  kind  of  thing  might 
be  carried  to  any  lengths.  A  and  B  might  as  well 
have  the  right  to  prohibit  butchers*  shops,  because 
they  are  vegetarians  and  disapprove  of  meat,  or 
C  might  conspire  with  D  and  E  to  retaliate. 
Tyranny  is  no  less  tyranny  because  it  is  decreed  by 
votes.  The  belief  that  local  option  would  in  practice 
generally  be  tyranny  explains  the  deep  and  wide 
antipathy  to  it  felt  in  a  country  where  liberty  is  still 
prized.  Intolerant  reformers  who  wish  to  thrust 
their  views  on  others  feel  the  objection  themselves 
when  it  is  proposed  to  use  the  same  sacred  machinery 
to  introduce  a  change  of  which  they  happen  to  dis- 
approve, though  it  would  not  interfere  with  their 
personal  habits.  Thus  local  option  has  become 
local  veto ;  the  people  are  only  to  have  the  chance  of 
prohibiting  public-houses.  The  proposal  that  they 
shall  have  the  choice  of  the  Gothenburg  system  or 
of  more  public-houses,  to  be  decided  by  votes,  is 
vehemently  opposed.  I  am  afraid  the  catchword 
*  Trust  the  people  '   is   a  piece   of   pure  humbug. 


THEIR  APPLICATION  183 

Politicians  only  want  to  trust  the  people  when  they 
think  the  people  agree  with  them. 

Putting  all  this  aside,  however,  we  have  to  note 
that  local  option  has  only  a  very  limited  application 
even  where  it  is  most  successful,  and  leaves  the 
disorderly  traffic,  which  is  in  populous  centres,  un- 
touched. In  America,  the  home  of  local  prohibition, 
its  successful  application  is  confined  to  rural  districts 
and  residential  suburbs.  In  this  country  the  field 
would  undoubtedly  be  the  same,  and  in  all  prob- 
ability much  less  extensive.  In  other  words,  local 
veto  would  hardly  touch  the  disorderly  traffic  at  all. 
I  can  only  explain  the  passionate  attachment  of  a 
section  of  reformers  to  this  plan  by  their  lack  of 
acquaintance  with  the  feelings  and  habits  of  the 
great  mass  of  our  people. 

Disinterested  management — otherwise  the  Gothen- 
burg system — is  a  more  hopeful  plan.  I  have 
a  good  deal  to  say  about  it  later  on  and  will  pass 
briefly  over  it  here.  The  great  advantage  it  has  is 
the  combined  control  over  the  disorderly  house 
and  the  disorderly  hours.  It  eliminates  both  at 
once,  so  far  as  that  is  possible,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  Acts  of  Parliament  or  cumbrous  admin- 
istrative machinery.  But  to  do  this  it  must  be 
completely  applied;  that  is  to  say,  there  must  be 
a  monopoly  of  all  the  houses  in  a  place.  The 
objection  that  it  would  bar  the  way  to  entire 
suppression  of  the  traffic  has  no  weight.  Suppres- 
sion is  at  present  below  the  horizon;  when  it  looms 
up    within    sight    Parliament   will   have   much    less 


y 


184      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

difficulty  in  dealing  with  companies  on  the  Gothen- 
burg plan  than  with  private  owners.  They  might  be 
installed  on  that  distinct  understanding.  The  real 
obstacle  is  the  dispossession  of  the  present  owners. 
They  cannot  be  dispossessed  without  compensation, 
and  the  speculation  is  likely  to  tempt  neither 
municipalities  nor  trusts.  If,  however,  any  town 
is  willing  to  try,  it  should  have  the  chance.  In  any 
case  this  plan,  though  more  generally  applicable 
than  local  veto,  would  leave  a  vast  amount  of  the 
traffic  under  the  present  system  of  control. 

How,  then,  are  disorderly  houses  to  be  suppressed? 
The  law  provides  ample  machinery,  and  it  works 
fairly  well  in  England  and  Scotland,  though  not  in 
Ireland.  The  gradual  elimination  of  houses  and 
improvement  in  the  conduct  of  the  traffic  have  been 
going  on  for  the  last  thirty  years.  It  is  not  at  all 
a  bad  record.  The  method  is  slow,  but  it  is  much 
more  sure  and  steady  than  those  exotic  schemes 
which  so  dazzle  the  fancy  of  impatient  reformers. 
It  is  sure  because  it  is  founded  on  sound  principles. 
The  more  showy  and  ambitious  methods  which 
some  would  like  to  substitute  for  it  are  capricious  in 
their  action  and  apt  to  develop  quite  unexpected 
results ;  for  two  or  three  years  they  may  apparently 
perform  wonders  and  then  take  an  unforeseen  turn 
which  only  special  pleading  can  explain  away.  The 
uneasy  chopping  and  changing  of  systems  by  other 
legislatures  does  not  suggest  any  superiority  to  our 
own  method  of  a  gradually  tightening  restriction  as 
the  standard  of  public  opinion  rises.     At  the  same 


THEIR  APPLICATION  185 

time  I  quite  agree  with  those  who  think  the  process 
might  be  accelerated  with  advantage.  I  know 
personally  establishments  which  are  centres  of 
disorder  and  a  common  nuisance.  They  ought  to 
be  suppressed  or  summarily  reformed,  but  they  are 
not;  and  I  do  not  see  any  immediate  prospect  of 
it,  though  theoretically  the  law  should  suffice.  Let 
us  examine  its  defects  in  order. 

There  are  three  factors  in  our  system  of  dealing 
with  the  liquor  trade — (1)  the  police,  (2)  the  ordinary 
magisterial  bench,  (3)  the  licensing  bench.  All  are 
human,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  support  a  railing 
accusation  against  any  of  them,  except  perhaps  the 
licensing  bench  in  Ireland;  and  I  believe  their  laxity 
is  due  more  to  native  kindness  of  heart  than  to 
anything  else.  Some  atrabilious  persons  love  to 
dwell  on  little  individual  instances  of  police  or 
magisterial  misdoing  here  and  there,  and  to  hint 
that  the  whole  of  the  police  force  and  the  magistracy 
throughout  the  country,  with  the  exception  of 
teetotal  members,  is  honeycombed  with  corruption 
and  virtually  in  the  pay  of  the  liquor  trade.  No 
doubt  they  judge  others  by  themselves,  but  as  this 
terrible  state  of  things  can  only  be  cured  by  having 
none  but  teetotalers  in  the  force  or  on  the  bench, 
we  must  continue  to  put  up  with  it  for  lack  of 
teetotalers.  No;  we  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed 
of  the  police  or  the  magistrates.  They  might  do 
their  work  better,  and  so  might  every  one  else — even 
those  who  are  so  immaculate  that  they  can  devote 


186       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

the    whole    of    their    time    to    looking    after    their 
neighbours'  morals. 

The  efficiency  of  the  police  is  impaired  by  two 
standing  conditions  which  are  susceptible  of  reform 
— one  constitutional,  the  other  administrative.  The 
first  is  the  dependence  of  the  force  on  the  local 
authority.  (This  does  not  apply  to  Ireland.)  Chief 
constables  in  English  boroughs  are  too  liable  to  be 
hampered  and  thwarted  by  the  watch  committees 
under  whose  control  they  are.  Abundant  evidence  of 
this  was  brought  before  the  Peel  Commission.  Watch 
committees  are  composed  of  popularly  elected 
persons,  and  the  less  the  administration  of  the  law 
has  to  do  with  votes  the  better.  Chief  constables 
should  be  able  to  do  their  duty  without  fear  of 
dismissal  by  an  interested  authority,  and  they  should 
have  legal  assistance.  The  second  condition  is  the 
system  of  supervising  public-houses.  It  is  a  very 
important  matter.  The  efficiency  of  supervision 
varies  greatly,  and  I  am  convinced  that  in  many 
places  it  is  capable  of  much  improvement.  The 
experience  of  Liverpool  in  this  respect  is  highly 
instructive.^  For  several  years  prior  to  1890  super- 
vision was  entrusted  to  a  special  public-house  staff 
told  off  for  the  purpose.  The  chief  constable  found 
that  it  did  not  work  satisfactorily,  and  being  aided 
by  a  public  agitation  changed  it  for  a  new  system, 
of  which  the  following  were  the  chief  features.    Each 

*  Royal  Commission  on  Liquor  Licensing  Laws,  iii.  pp.  2,  10, 
552. 


THEIR  APPLICATION  187 

superintendent  was  held  responsible  for  the  good 
conduct  of  the  houses  in  his  own  division.  Every 
month  he  detailed  one  sergeant  and  one  constable 
in  plain  clothes  to  visit  all  the  licensed  houses  in  his 
division,  report  fully  on  them,  and  lay  informations 
if  necessary.  These  special  officers  were  changed 
every  month.  At  the  same  time  the  sergeant  on 
each  section  was  held  responsible  for  the  houses  in 
his  own  area,  and  informed  that  if  any  were  shown 
to  be  irregularly  conducted  and  had  not  been 
previously  reported  the  fact  would  be  taken  as 
evidence  of  his  unfitness  for  the  position.  The 
divisional  inspectors  were  also  instructed  to  visit 
all  licensed  houses  in  their  divisions,  and  were  held 
responsible  to  the  superintendent  for  seeing  that 
the  inspection  of  the  sergeants  was  real  and  not 
merely  superficial.  When  a  house  was  reported 
to  the  chief  constable,  it  became  the  duty  of  the 
superintendent,  after  notice  had  been  served  on  the 
licensee  and  the  owner,  to  take  measures  to  have 
the  premises  regularly  watched  by  special  officers. 

Here  we  have  a  model  system,  securing  thorough 
supervision  and  personal  responsibility,  with  double 
and  treble  checks.  A  valuable  provision  is  the 
special  inspection  by  a  sergeant  and  a  constable  in 
company,  changed  every  month.  The  new  system 
at  the  same  time  stimulated  and  enabled  the  licens- 
ing bench  to  adopt  closer  inquiry  and  more  stringent 
action  in  regard  to  ill-conducted  houses.  The  effect 
on  public  order  was  most  striking,  as  shown  by  the 


188       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

following  table,  which  gives  the  six  years  before  and 
six  after  the  change: 

Number  of  persons  drunk  when  apprehended 


Old  System 

1884   17,297 

1885    15,700 

1886    13,159 

1887    16,323 

1888   15,979 

1889    16,617 


New  System 

1890    16,054 

1891    11,903 

1892   10,088 

1893    9,265 

1894    6,327 

1895    6,223 


When  it  is  remembered  that  the  earlier  six  years 
were  a  time  of  great  depression  and  low  consump- 
tion, and  the  later  six  years  one  of  reviving  pros- 
perity and  increased  consumption,  and  when  it  is 
further  stated  that  the  police  rather  increased  than 
diminished  their  activity  in  dealing  with  drunken- 
ness, it  must  be  admitted  that  the  improvement  in 
public  order  and  in  the  conduct  of  the  traffic  indi- 
cated by  the  table  is  a  convincing  proof  both  of  the 
power  of  the  existing  law  and  of  the  importance  of 
police  administration.  I  do  not  know  of  a  parallel 
case  of  improvement  effected  by  any  foreign  system. 
If  the  Liverpool  plan  were  generally  adopted  in  large 
towns  it  would  have  a  far-reaching  effect  on  the 
bench,  which  would  be  supplied  with  cogent  reasons 
for  firm  action.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
discredited  system  abandoned  in  1890  was  originally 
adopted  at  the  instance  of  the  temperance  party,  and 
was  long  retained  in  spite  of  the  chief  constable  for 
fear  of  offending  them. 

Among  the  places  which  need  better  supervision 


THEIR  APPLICATION  189 

I  would  draw  special  attention  to  the  refreshment 
bars  of  railway  stations,  and  particularly  the  large 
terminus  stations  in  London  of  lines  having  much 
suburban  traflSc.  In  these  places  visibly  and  audibly 
intoxicated  persons,  who  are  an  unspeakable  nuisance 
to  the  travelling  public,  are  habitually  treated  with 
an  amiable  blindness  to  their  condition  which  no  East 
End  publican  would  dare  to  practise. 

We  pass  on  to  the  ordinary  magisterial  bench. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  magistrates  are  sometimes, 
perhaps  generally,  inclined  to  deal  rather  tenderly 
with  offences  against  the  liquor  laws.  They  are 
slow  to  convict  publicans,  which  discourages  the 
police,  and  reluctant  to  endorse  convictions  on  the 
licenses.  This  attitude  is  to  some  extent  a  set-off,  a 
tacit  protest  against  the  persecuting  spirit  of  extreme 
temperance  reformers.  If  they  were  more  moderate 
magistrates  would  be  less  tender.  But  there  are  real 
difficulties  in  proving  certain  offences,  and  I  do  not 
think  they  can  be  altogether  overcome.  It  is  quite 
impossible,  as  I  have  repeatedly  convinced  myself, 
for  a  liquor  seller,  even  for  one  who  has  the  strongest 
inducements  to  prevent  drunkenness,  to  recognise 
that  condition  in  some  customers,  and  injustice 
would  be  done  by  making  him  responsible  under 
heavy  penalties  for  every  case.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  heaviest  penalty  should  be  imposed  without 
hesitation  on  those  who  habitually  connive  at 
drunkenness.  The  houses  which  the  law  should 
aim  at  are  those  which  are  standing  centres  of 
disorder,   and   cumulative   evidence   of   disorder  in 


190       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

connection  with  a  house  should  be  sufficient  proof 
of  misconduct.  It  may  be  less  the  fault  of  the 
publican  than  of  his  customers — rough  gangs  will 
frequent  a  particular  house  and  become  uncontrol- 
lable. But  that  is  just  the  kind  of  house  that  ought 
not  to  exist,  and  the  risk  of  taking  it  should  be  too 
great  for  any  decent  man.  For  the  same  reason  a 
bad  record  should  certainly  stand  against  the  house" 
as  well  as  against  the  publican.  Such  records  should 
be  kept  with  full  details  and  produced  before  the 
licensing  authority.  Magistrates*  clerks  should 
have  no  connection  with  the  liquor  trade  and  no 
interest  in  it. 

There  remains  the  licensing  bench,  to  which  a 
vast  amount  of  attention  has  been  directed.  Much 
of  it  appears  to  me  quite  irrelevant  and  to  rest  on 
the  assumption  that  it  is  the  business  of  magistrates 
to  exercise  a  paternal  control  over  the  tastes  and 
habits  of  their  neighbours,  and  under  the  guise  of 
interpreting  their  needs  to  decide  how  much  they 
shall  drink  or  whether  they  shall  di'ink  at  all.  My 
contention  is  that  their  business  is  to  keep  the  peace, 
as  their  title  implies,  and  so  far  as  licensing  is  con- 
cerned not  to  give  permission  for  the  sale  of  liquor 
where  it  is  or  is  likely  to  be  a  cause  of  disorder.  If 
they  would  stick  to  that  plain  duty  and  carry  it  out 
resolutely,  we  should  derive  far  more  benefit  than 
we  are  likely  to  do  from  the  adoption  of  the  paternal 
principle,  which  is  an  attempt  to  slip  a  sumptuary 
character  into  the  law  by  way  of  administration. 
Its  effect  is  to  divide  the  bench  into  two  parties  and 


THEIR  APPLICATION  191 

to  make  licensing  a  battle-ground  between  them; 
sometimes  one  comes  out  victor,  sometimes  the 
other,  but  in  the  ardour  of  the  fray  the  real  busi- 
ness is  apt  to  drop  out  of  sight.  This  largely 
accounts  for  the  failure  of  the  justices  to  suppress 
houses  which  ought  to  be  suppressed.  Temperance 
zeal  on  a  local  bench  excites  reprisals  at  quarter 
sessions,  and  licenses  refused  by  the  former  are 
granted  by  the  latter  on  appeal. 

The  introduction  of  a  popularly  elected  element 
into  the  licensing  and  the  appellate  body  has  been 
proposed  as  a  remedy.  It  could  not  fail  to  make 
things  worse.  The  temperance  organisations  and  the 
trade  would  strive  their  utmost  to  get  sympathisers 
on  to  the  bench,  which  would  become  still  more 
partisan.  Eventually  licensing  business  would  be  the 
sport  of  party  politics.  We  should  have  excessive 
rigour  here  and  excessive  laxity  there,  both  equally 
detrimental  to  the  public  interest.  There  can  be  no 
more  fatal  mistake  than  to  make  the  administration 
of  law  dependent  on  popular  elections.  When  large 
pecuniary  interests  are  at  stake  corruption  is  certain 
to  follow.  It  is  amazing  that  such  a  proposal  should 
come  from  those  who  recognise  that  watch  com- 
mittees, who  are  nominated  from  popularly  elected 
representatives  of  the  people,  cannot  be  trusted  in 
licensing  matters,  and  that  the  greatest  evil  in 
Ireland  is  the  susceptibility  of  licensing  magistrates 
to  popular  pressure.  Here  we  have  two  substantial 
pieces  of  evidence  from  experience,  that  local  and 
popular  influence  is  a  dangerous  element  to  bring  to 


192       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

bear  on  licensing  administration.  In  favour  of  it 
we  have  nothing  but  the  general  democratic  theory 
and  an  idea  that  if  the  *  needs  of  the  neighbourhood  ' 
were  considered — to  be  determined  by  some  purely 
arbitrary  calculation — ^the  efficacy  of  the  licensing 
bench  would  be  increased.  This  is  just  the  frame  of 
mind  which  has  led  to  legislative  blunders  in  the  past. 
We  are  advised  to  take  a  step  in  the  dark,  on  the- 
oretical grounds  and  in  the  vague  hope  of  promoting 
morality.  The  suggestion  is  supported  by  a  con- 
fused use  of  the  word  *  administrative.'  The 
licensing  justices  are  credited  with  *  administrative  ' 
functions  which  are  somehow  non-judicial  or  extra- 
legal. But  what  they  administer  is  the  law,  and  in 
that  sense  all  judicial  functions  are  administrative. 
Judges  exist  to  administer  the  law.  Licensing 
magistrates  have  a  certain  discretion,  it  is  true,  but 
so  have  all  judges;  it  is  necessary  to  give  sufficient 
elasticity  to  statutory  law,  which  cannot  foresee  and 
provide  for  all  circumstances. 

The  real  defect  of  the  licensing  courts  is  that 
they  are  not  judicial  enough.  If  they  were  we 
should  get  rid  of  more  objectionable  houses.  The 
experience  of  Ireland  is  again  instructive  on  the 
converse  side.  By  far  the  most  satisfactory  licensing 
courts  in  the  United  Kingdom  are  the  quarter 
sessions  courts  in  Dublin,  Belfast,  Cork,  London- 
derry, and  Gal  way ;  and  they  are  the  most  judicial,  the 
sole  authority  being  the  Recorder  in  each  city.*    The 

*  Royal  Commission  on  Liquor  Licensing  Laws,  vol.  vii.,  and 
Final  Report,  p.  236. 


THEIR  APPLICATION  193 

general  satisfaction  which  they  give  is  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  condemnation  of  the  petty-sessional 
magistrates,  who  are  subject  to  popular  influence. 
The  reform  proposed  for  Ireland  by  general  consent 
and  accepted  by  both  sections  of  the  Peel  Com- 
mission is  that  all  the  licensing  courts  should  be 
made  more  judicial  and  less  popular;  that  the 
licensing  business  should,  in  fact,  be  in  the  hands 
of  judges  and  stipendiaries.  This  is  the  exact 
opposite  of  the  recommendation  for  England,  and 
irreconcilable  with  the  *  trust-the-people  '  principle 
on  which  the  latter  is  based;  but  since  the  one  is 
backed  by  actual  experience,  the  other  by  a  mere 
fancy  which  is  inconsistent  with  the  conclusions 
about  watch  committees,  and  with  the  objections 
urged  against  municipal  liquor  traffic,  there  is  no 
doubt  which  is  the  sounder  proposal.  Indeed  it 
seems  to  need  no  argument  that  when  law  has  to 
be  administered,  the  higher  the  character  and 
intelligence  of  the  persons  appointed  to  administer 
it  and  the  greater  their  independence  the  better. 
'  Local  '  knowledge,  which  often  means  prejudice  or 
personal  interest,  should  be  supplied  to  the  court 
by  the  police  and  other  witnesses,  not  by  the  court. 
The  court  should  demand  it,  and  the  more  judicial 
the  court  the  more  pains  it  would  take  to  be  fully 
and  fairly  informed.  A  competent  stipendiary  or 
county  court  judge  would  be  careful  to  do  all  those 
things  which  licensing  justices  are  accused  of 
neglecting.  He  would  look  to  the  map,  require 
details  as  to  premises,  insist  on  the  production  of 


194       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

the  record,  scrutinise  agreements,  demand  explana- 
tions, and  bring  misconduct  home  to  the  real 
offender. 

Experience  and  common  sense  alike  suggest  that 
if  the  constitution  of  the  licensing  authority  is  to 
be  changed  it  should  be  in  this  direction.  The 
question  of  disqualification  would  thus  be  settled 
and  a  number  of  minor  points  in  licensing  procedure 
rendered  of  no  importance.  With  such  a  court,  a 
police  system  like  that  in  Liverpool,  an  independent 
chief  constable,  and  a  record  kept  of  offences,  we 
should  get  all  that  can  be  got  from  the  law  in  the 
way  of  controlling  the  number  and  the  conduct 
of  licensed  houses.  I  am  well  aware  that  this  will 
by  no  means  satisfy  many  who  would  like  to  see 
a  large  and  immediate  reduction  of  '  superfluous  * 
public-houses,  the  abolition  of  the  tied-house  system, 
and  so  on.  I  have  no  objection,  but  think  they 
are  very  unlikely  to  get  these  things  done  and  still 
more  unlikely  to  be  pleased  with  the  results  when 
they  have  got  them.  The  word  *  superfluous  *  may 
be  interpreted  in  two  ways.  If  it  means  that  the 
houses  are  too  numerous  for  effective  supervision 
or  for  respectable  trade,  and  therefore  causes  of 
disorder,  they  would  be  reduced  without  any  trouble 
or  difficulty  by  the  effective  administration  I  suggest. 
If  it  means  that  they  exceed  some  numerical  pro- 
portion to  the  population,  arbitrarily  fixed,  and 
must  therefore  be  reduced,  although  they  are  orderly 
and  respectable,  then  you  at  once  raise  the  thorniest 
of  all  the  liquor  questions — compensation — and  you 


THEIR  APPLICATION  195 

go  outside  the  proper  province  of  the  law.  Is  this 
wise  or  feasible  or  necessary?  I  think  not.  Let 
us  at  any  rate  get  rid  of  the  disorderly  places  first, 
wherein  we  are  on  safe  ground.  The  same  reasoning 
applies  to  the  tied-house  system.  It  is  neither 
possible  nor  necessary  to  abolish  it.  Far  too  much 
fuss  has  been  made  about  the  system,  as  such. 
Some  tied-houses  are  the  very  best  conducted  houses 
there  are,  conducted  according  to  my  observation 
much  more  carefully  than  disinterested  company 
houses.  Such  are  those  in  Liverpool,  as  the  chief 
constable  has  testified.  Other  tied-houses  are  just 
the  reverse  and  perhaps  the  worst  conducted  of  all. 
It  depends  on  the  individuals  and  the  control 
exercised  over  them,  not  on  the  system.  Abolish 
the  bad  ones  by  all  means;  but  to  abolish  the 
system  on  abstract  grounds,  whether  its  results  are 
good  or  bad,  is  more  than  the  law  can  do  or  ought 
to  attempt. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  person  and  the  house. 
The  upshot  of  it  is:  Deal  more  severely  with  the 
offender,  with  the  drunkard  and  the  publican  who 
encourages  him.  Herein  I  entirely  agree  with  Mr. 
Daly,  chief  clerk  of  the  Dublin  police  courts,  a 
gentleman  of  very  great  experience,  who  gave 
some  admirable  evidence  before  the  Royal  Com- 
mission. The  Irish  witnesses  were  as  a  body  by 
far  the  best,  and  Mr.  Daly  was  one  of  the  best  of 
them.  *  I  do  heartily  believe,'  he  said,  *  that  if  the 
legislative  attack  were  more  directed  on  the  wrong- 
doer, including  the  habitual  inebriate  and  the  dis- 


196       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

reputable  trader,  and  less  spread  over  the  whole 
community,  a  great  deal  would  be  done  for  tem- 
perance that  is  not  done  now/ 

m.   THE  DISORDERLY  TIME 

There  remains  the  third  point  which  requires 
separate  mention.  In  accordance  with  the  principle 
that  the  law  can  properly  and  successfully  interfere 
with  any  condition  which  is  a  proved  cause  of 
disorder,  it  ought  to  deal  with  the  disorderly  hours. 
If  there  is  any  one  thing  which  has  had  a  decided 
and  immediate  effect  in  the  past  and  would  have 
it  again,  it  is  a  reduction  of  time.  Closing  in  towns 
an  hour  earlier  at  night,  and  particularly  on  Satur- 
day night,  would  make  an  enormous  difference.  Per- 
haps it  is  impracticable  because  so  many  people  want 
something  to  eat  and  drink  on  coming  out  from 
theatres  and  other  places  of  entertainment.  But 
only  bars  need  be  closed;  places  of  refreshment 
might  be  kept  open  later,  as  is  done  under  the 
Gothenburg  system.  What  we  really  want  is  a 
different  classification  of  licenses,  which  should  be 
five  in  number:  (1)  hotel,  (2)  restaurant,  (3)  bar, 
(4)  off-sale,  (5)  club.  This  was  one  of  the  best 
suggestions  made  to  the  Royal  Commission.  It 
would  enable  many  things  to  be  done  for  the  public 
convenience  and  the  promotion  of  good  order,  and 
one  of  them  is  the  early  closing  of  bars.  Public- 
houses  close  at  ten  in  the  country,  which  largely 
accounts  for  the  superior  sobriety  of  rural  districts; 


THEIR  APPLICATION  197 

I  can  see  no  reason  why  all  bars  should  not  close 
at  ten.  Restaurants  could  remain  open  till  eleven 
or  twelve.  This  is  the  only  way  in  which  curtail- 
ment of  the  drunkards'  hour  could  be  effected. 

Closing  for  a  considerable  number  of  hours  on 
days  of  public  excitement,  such  as  elections,  is  a 
practical  step  which  would  have  a  real  effect  on 
public  order  in  many  places;  and  I  think  the  hours 
of  sale  on  Sundays  might  be  reduced  in  England 
with  advantage,  but  total  Sunday  closing  I  believe 
to  be  quite  impracticable.  It  would  not  only  create 
an  illicit  traffic  too  general  to  be  controlled,  but 
would  raise  a  storm  sufficient  to  turn  out  any 
government.  Those  who  advocate  it  underrate  the 
attachment  of  the  uncellared  classes  to  the  public- 
house,  or  over-estimate  the  docility  of  the  English 
people.  Curtailment  of  hours  is  one  thing;  total 
deprivation  for  a  whole  day,  and  that  a  holiday,  is 
another.  I  recall  an  incident  which  illustrates  the 
feelings  of  an  average  working  man  on  the  subject. 
He  was  in  the  hospital — I  forget  for  what,  but  it  was 
a  surgical  case — and  he  underwent  some  severe  pain 
without  an  anaesthetic,  perhaps  a  small  operation  or 
the  examination  of  an  injury.  He  bore  it  very  well, 
but  on  being  asked  how  it  felt  he  replied  that  '  it  was 
like  waiting  for  the  public-house  to  open  on  Sunday. ' 
He  could  think  of  nothing  more  trying.  The  argu- 
ment for  Sunday  closing  drawn  from  other  countries 
and  even  from  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Wales  is 
deceptive.  They  are  all  far  more  rural  than  England, 
and  it  is  in  the  rural  districts  that  Sunday  closing 


198      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

has  been  well  borne.  In  Ireland  five  principal  towns 
are  exempted,  and  the  representatives  of  the 
working  classes  have  strongly  protested  against  the 
proposed  inclusion  of  these  towns.  In  Scotland 
the  people  are  very  strong  Sabbatarians,  and  previous 
to  1828  they  were  accustomed  to  Sunday  closing 
under  the  common  law;  yet  the  measure  gave  great 
trouble  in  Glasgow  for  many  years.  In  Wales, 
also  far  more  Sabbatarian  than  England,  it  has 
given  much  trouble  in  Cardiff  and  is  still  strongly 
resented  by  a  section  of  the  people.  A  sanguine 
mind  may  overlook  these  facts  in  contemplating  the 
general  success  of  Sunday  closing,  but  they  have 
a  serious  significance  for  the  chances  of  its  accept- 
ance in  England,  with  her  great  industrial  districts 
and  vast  urban  populations,  whose  views,  habits, 
and  temper  differentiate  them  strongly  from  the 
Celtic  sections  of  the  kingdom.  The  English  are 
drinkers  of  draught  beer  and  they  like  to  have  it 
fresh.  They  have  been  accustomed  to  have  it  so  for 
centuries,  and  the  privilege  is  dear  to  them,  especially 
on  Sundays.  The  Scotsman  and  the  Irishman  can 
have  a  bottle  of  whisky  to  tide  them  over  the  day, 
and  the  Welshman  has  his  own  way  of  spending 
Sunday;  but  the  Englishman  wants  the  pot  of 
beer  that  his  soul  loves.  Now  he  is  law-abiding  so 
long  as  he  has  what  he  considers  his  rights,  but 
touch  them  and  he  becomes  the  most  rebellious, 
stubborn,  and  intractable  creature  in  existence.  He 
has  freedom  in  his  bones,  as  no  other  man  has. 
The  Celt  is  different;  he  is  more  used  to  submit 


0 

THEIR  APPLICATION  199 

and  comparatively  docile,  outwardly  at  least  in  the 
presence  of  force;  he  will  stand  compulsion  in 
personal  matters,  and  so  will  other  races;  but  the 
Englishman  will  not.  It  merely  arouses  an  infi- 
nite determination  to  resist.  If  you  can  per- 
suade him  that  he  is  better  without  his  Sunday 
beer,  he  will  give  it  up;  but  so  long  as  he  sees  no 
harm  in  it,  the  attempt  to  take  it  from  him  against 
his  will  would  be  a  most  hazardous  experiment.  I 
do  not  know  how  those  who  advocate  it  have  arrived 
at  the  opinion  that  the  step  would  be  acceptable. 
They  may  be  right,  but  that  was  not  the  opinion 
of  several  witnesses  before  the  Royal  Commission 
who  were  familiar  with  the  habits  of  the  people,  and 
my  own  observation  coincides  with  theirs.  At  any 
rate  it  will  be  generally  conceded  that  total  Sunday 
closing  would  be  a  more  violent  and  risky  interference 
with  long-established  habits  than  earlier  closing  at 
night  in  the  week,  and  less  effective  in  preventing 
drunkenness. 

The  foregoing  suggestions  do  not  pretend  to 
exhaust  the  subject;  there  are  other  details  which 
might  be  dealt  with  on  the  same  lines.  Nor  are  they 
put  forward  as  a  comprehensive  programme,  but 
rather  to  illustrate  the  spirit  in  which  practical  and 
effective  legislation  should  be  approached.  The 
main  thing  is  to  aim  at  a  definite  and  attainable 
object — pick  out  a  bird  within  range  and  eschew 
speculative  shots  in  the  hope  of  hitting  something. 
The  only  thing  they  hit  is  a  beater. 


200       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE 

The  publican's  is  not  a  nice  trade,  and  the  average 
public-house  is  not  a  nice  place;  at  the  worst  it  is 
horrible.  But  to  do  the  publican  justice,  the  fault 
is  less  often  on  his  than  on  the  other  side  of  the  bar. 
It  is  the  customers  that  make  the  place  so  detest- 
able; they  would  make  any  place  detestable.  I  am 
sure  that  many  publicans  would  never  have  gone 
into  the  business  if  they  had  known  what  they 
would  have  to  contend  with.  I  have  been  in  public- 
houses  in  bad  parts  of  London,  and  have  seen  the 
landlord  in  a  state  of  obvious  terror,  vainly  endeav- 
ouring with  all  his  might  to  keep  order  among  his 
customers,  who  were  not  drunk,  merely  brutal.  I 
know  other  large  public-houses,  enormously  fre- 
quented, where  perfect  order  is  maintained,  but 
only  by  sheer  force,  instantly  and  ruthlessly  applied. 
Such  large  houses  can  afford  to  keep  a  strong  force 
on  hand.  The  customers  know  it  and  very  rarely 
give  occasion  for  its  exercise;  but  though  quiet  and 
orderly,  the  place  is  repellent  by  reason  of  the 
demeanour  of  the  people,  who  do  not  show  to 
advantage     when     enjoying     themselves     together. 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  201 

Taken  alone  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
each  individual  would  appear  very  different ;  all  sorts 
of  good  qualities — qualities  that  make  one  ashamed 
of  oneself — are  often  hidden  under  the  most  degraded 
exterior — extraordinary  kindness  and  self-sacrifice, 
for  instance;  but  company  has  the  singular  effect  of 
making  many  persons  put  their  worst  foot  forward, 
so  to  speak.  The  weakness  is  not  confined  to  any 
class,  but  since  the  lowest  and  the  roughest  take 
their  pleasure  at  the  public-house,  it  is  there  that 
everything  most  brutal  in  our  populace  is  concen- 
trated and  made  prominent. 

I  am  not  concerned  to  make  a  hero  or  a  martyr 
of  the  publican,  who  is  very  much  like  other  trades- 
men. His  object  is  to  make  money.  Sometimes  he 
takes  a  pride  in  the  respectable  conduct  of  his  trade 
and  in  the  good  name  of  his  house;  but  sometimes 
it  is  only  fear  of  the  law  that  keeps  him  straight, 
and  when  he  gets  a  chance  of  transgressing  with 
impunity  he  grasps  it.  The  combination  of  the  vile 
landlord  with  vile  customers  produces  an  abominable 
result.  Some  brewers,  who  own  public-houses,  un- 
doubtedly connive  at  it.  They  treat  the  publican 
who  gets  caught  without  mercy,  but  they  practically 
force  him  to  run  the  risk,  just  as  some  shipowners 
force  their  captains  to  overload.  It  is  idle  to  deny 
that  these  things  are  done.  Every  one  who  is 
behind  the  scenes  at  all  knows  that  they  are.  But 
my  own  observation  leads  me  to  agree  with  the 
police,  who  testify  generally  that  the  great  majority 
of   the    licensed    houses    are    conducted    with    care. 


202       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

That  is,  perhaps,  more  often  recognised  than  it  used 
to  be  quite  a  few  years  ago.  There  seems  to  be,  at 
any  rate,  less  violent  denunciation  of  the  trade  as  a 
whole;  but  I  do  not  think  the  conditions  under 
which  the  traffic  is  carried  on  are  fully  realised. 
There  is  still  a  great  tendency  to  place  all  the 
responsibility  on  the  shoulders  of  those  who  supply 
a  commodity  demanded  by  the  mass  of  our  people 
and  to  exonerate  those  whose  demand  creates  and 
maintains  the  traffic.  The  publican  is  charged, 
in  effect,  with  creating  the  demand  as  well  as  the 
supply,  and,  more  explicitly,  with  promoting  the  ex- 
cesses of  those  who  exceed.  I  am  sure  that  this  is 
less  true  of  the  publican  than  of  other  tradesmen. 
None  makes  so  little  effort  to  beguile  customers  into 
buying  what  they  do  not  want.  He  treats  them, 
indeed,  with  a  curious  indifference  which  would  ruin 
any  other  business.  In  drink-shops  frequented  by  the 
common  people  I  have  repeatedly  been  struck  by  the 
singular  relation  between  buyer  and  seller,  which  is 
the  reverse  of  that  seen  in  other  shops.  It  is  all  cold 
business,  without  the  semblance  of  friendly  interest. 
The  customer  receives  no  invitation  or  welcome,  but 
is  regarded  with  an  air  of  suppressed  and  watchful 
hostility  as  a  potential  enemy  who  may  give  trouble 
by  creating  a  disturbance  or  cheating  the  landlord. 

Let  us  go  down  into  a  working-class  district  in 
the  East  of  London.  The  population  includes 
general  labourers,  dockers,  lightermen,  stevedores, 
sail  and  block  makers,  iron  workers,  cabinet  makers, 
carmen,  tramway  hands,  and  others — in  short,  a  large 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  203 

variety  of  skilled  and  unskilled  labour — and  there  is, 
of  course,  as  there  is  almost  everywhere,  a  certain 
proportion  of  people  belonging  to  a  superior  class, 
such  as  tradesmen,  dock  officials,  and  small  employers 
of  labour.  Public-houses  are  thick  on  the  ground, 
both  beer-shops  and  ale-houses,  as  the  fully  licensed 
establishments  are  technically  called;  you  may 
count  more  than  a  dozen,  large  and  small,  in  300 
yards  of  street.  In  the  daytime  they  are  neither 
very  conspicuous  nor  very  attractive,  but  at  night 
the  gas-light  in  the  window  shows  them  up  when 
the  shops  are  shut  or  where  there  are  no  shops. 

The  Exterior. — A  great  deal  is  made  of  this 
point,  and  no  doubt  many  people  honestly  believe 
that  the  *  flaring  lights  '  of  the  *  gin-palace  '  do 
exercise  an  appreciable  influence  on  the  habits  of  the 
poor,  who  are  supposed  to  find  them  irresistibly 
alluring.  It  sounds  plausible,  and  the  picturesque 
contrast  between  the  cheerfully  lighted  house  and  its 
squalid  customers  kindles  a  sympathetic  imagination 
to  flights  of  fancy,  but  a  nearer  view  will  show  that 
there  is  very  little  in  it  except  words.  In  the  first 
place,  you  will  notice  that  the  public-house  lights 
are  no  more  flaring  than  any  others.  A  large 
establishment  makes  a  show  because  it  is  large,  but 
it  makes  less  show  than  a  shop  of  the  same  size,  and 
that  is  equally  true  of  the  small  one.  Here,  for 
instance,  are  the  windows  of  a  newsvendor,  a 
tobacconist,  an  eating-house,  and  a  grocer,  all  far 
more  showily  lighted  than  the  drink-shops  hard  by. 
In  the  second  place  you  will  notice  that  the  most 


204       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

brilliant  establishments  do  not  by  any  means  attract 
the  most  customers.  Here,  for  example,  is  a  really 
showy  exterior,  bright  with  mahogany  mouldings 
and  stained  glass  quite  in  the  most  modern  West 
End  style.  If  you  look  in  you  will  see  that  it  is 
pretty  nearly  empty,  while  the  comparatively 
obscure  and  dingy  place  over  the  way  is  crowded. 
Ask  any  of  the  men  present  why  they  prefer  the 
second,  and  they  will  say  *  Better  stuff  here. '  Again, 
you  may  notice  that  the  majority  of  the  customers 
are  hahitues  and  more  or  less  known  to  the  people 
behind  the  bar;  in  other  words,  their  patronage  is 
deliberately  bestowed  on  the  establishment  which 
suits  them  best,  and  that  is  the  one  where  they  get 
the  best  value  for  their  money  according  to  their 
taste.  They  will  go  considerable  distances  and  pass 
many  public-houses  in  order  to  reach  the  one  of  their 
choice,  and  its  external  appearance  is  a  matter  of 
absolute  indifference.  But  I  have  already  discussed 
this  point  (p.  146),  and  will  say  no  more  about  it 
here. 

The  Interior. — ^Let  us  choose  a  typical  house  and 
go  inside.  Call  it  the  Blue  Boar,  and  say  the  hour 
is  9  P.M.  The  house  has  a  long  frontage  towards 
the  main  road  and  extends  round  the  corner  into 
a  by-street.  It  is  entered  by  several  doors,  and  each 
opens  into  a  separate  compartment  of  the  bar-room, 
which  but  for  the  dividing  partitions  would  be  an 
extensive  saloon  fully  seventy  feet  in  length.  This 
arrangement  in  compartments  is  peculiar  to  the 
British  urban  public-house,  and  is  designed  partly 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  205 

for  the  sake  of  greater  privacy,  partly  to  diminish 
the  chances  of  disorder  and  to  assist  the  landlord  in 
quelling  it  when  it  arises.  The  second  is  the  chief 
object  in  places  frequented  by  the  lower  classes, 
while  privacy  gratifies,  or  is  understood  to  gratify, 
customers  of  superior  station.  The  Blue  Boar 
entertains  both,  having  two  or  three  compartments 
at  one  end  rather  more  comfortable  than  the  rest, 
and  further  protected  from  the  public  gaze  by  a 
glass  screen,  running  along  the  counter,  but  raised 
sufficiently  above  it  to  allow  glasses  to  be  passed 
underneath.  This  screening  off  of  customers  may, 
perhaps,  be  taken  for  a  sign  of  grace  indicating 
recognition  of  the  growth  of  public  opinion  against 
bar-loafing,  and  especially  in  women,  who  seem  to 
desire  privacy  the  most.  The  opposite  notion  that 
it  represents  the  falling  away  of  a  previously  virtuous 
class  through  the  arts  of  the  publican  rests  on  the 
erroneous  belief — already  disproved — that  women 
used  not  to  frequent  the  public-house.  Absence  of 
screens  does  not  deter ;  it  makes  them  bold.  The  rest 
of  the  Blue  Boar  bar  is  quite  open,  and  the  sons  of 
toil  stand  at  it  without  fear  and  without  reproach. 
Some  bare  wooden  benches  adorn  most  of  the 
compartments,  but  they  are  little  used.  The  floor  is 
sawdusted,  filthy  with  spilt  liquor  and  expectoration, 
the  counter  sloppy  with  beer  marks,  which  are 
periodically  wiped  down  by  a  barmaid  wielding  a 
wet  cloth.  On  the  other  side  all  is  bright,  clean, 
spick-and-span;  the  attendants,  who  include  the 
*  governor, '  the  *  missus, '  and  three  or  four  girls,  are 


206      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

tidy,  quiet,  and  active.  This  is  one  of  the  roughest 
houses  in  a  very  rough  neighbourhood,  but  no  fault 
can  be  found  with  the  management.  At  the  present 
moment  the  customers  are  equally  quiet.  They 
number  about  fifty,  and  are  scattered  along  the  bar 
in  the  different  compartments,  some  sitting  down, 
more  standing  up,  smoking  and  talking  quietly. 
Itinerant  vendors  of  matches  and  penny  songs  come 
and  go.  A  tall  young  fellow,  perfectly  sober,  tries 
very  hard  to  engage  the  barmaids  in  conversation, 
but  without  much  success. 

The  Liquor. — What  are  they  drinking?  At  the 
superior  end  some  Scotch  whiskies  may  be  seen,  a 
young  sailor  orders  a  rum  hot,  and  a  woman  of  the 
pavement  at  my  elbow  asks  for  a  two  of  gin  cold, 
which  she  sits  down  to  enjoy  at  her  leisure;  but  for 
the  rest  it  is  all  beer.  Pewter  pots  line  the  counter 
from  end  to  end.  Several  kinds  of  beer  are  sold  at 
these  houses,  but  the  working  man  confines  himself 
mainly  to  the  two  cheapest,  which  are  technically 
called  '  beer  '  and  *  ale.'  The  former  is  a  very  dark 
opaque  liquid  of  the  same  colour  as  porter,  but 
much  weaker,  and  it  costs  3d.  the  pot  (i.e.  quart),  or 
Id.  the  glass.  *  Ale,*  otherwise  called  *  four  ale,'  or 
*  mild,'  is  clear,  but  rather  dark  in  colour,  and  costs 
4d.  the  pot,  or  Id.  the  glass.  Both  are  very  weak. 
The  stronger  beers  are  '  stout,'  '  bitter,'  and  the 
variety  known  as  '  old,'  *  strong,'  or  *  Burton  '  ale; 
all  of  which  are  the  same  as  those  sold  at  refresh- 
ment bars  and  superior  public-houses  in  other  parts 
of  the  town.    They  cost  2d.  the  glass  and  Id.  or  8d. 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  207 

the  quart.  German  beer  may  also  be  had,  but  is  not 
much  patronised,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  bot- 
tled ales.  Half  glasses  of  bitter  are  sold,  but  the 
favourite  articles,  constituting  90  per  cent,  of  the 
orders,  are  the  cheap  *  ale  '  and  *  beer.'  The  house 
is  *  tied,'  and  to  a  famous  firm.  Attracting  the 
notice  of  an  attendant  with  some  difficulty,  I  order  a 
glass  of  *  ale,'  and  find  it  a  perfectly  clean,  honest 
liquor,  but  watery.  Better  stuff  may  be  had  in  the 
neighbourhood  for  the  same  money,  but  this  is, 
nevertheless,  beyond  the  suspicion  of  injurious 
adulteration,  and,  to  my  taste,  both  a  more  honest 
and  a  more  palatable  beer  than  the  renowned  '  bitter  ' 
brewed  by  Messrs.  Blank's  great  firm,  and  dispensed 
at  a  thousand  luxurious  bars.  No  charge  has  been 
more  often  brought  against  the  brewer  and  the  pub- 
lican than  that  of  contributing  to  drunkenness  and 
crime  by  poisoning  the  working  man  with  bad  stuff. 
None  is  more  easily  tested  by  personal  observation, 
and  I  venture  to  say  that  no  man  who  takes  the 
trouble  so  to  test  it  to-day  in  our  urban  centres  of 
population  will  find  any  evidence  to  support  it. 
Once  it  was  true.  The  House  of  Commons  inquiry 
in  1854  brought  out  some  amusing  old  recipes 
for  adulteration,  which  appear  to  have  done  duty 
ever  since.  The  evil  was  attributed,  as  by  the 
House  of  Lords  Committee  in  1850  (it  is  extraor- 
dinary what  a  number  of  these  Select  Committees 
there  have  been),  to  the  tied-house  system,  but  it 
really  dates  from  a  far  earlier  period.  There  is 
evidence  that  sophistication  of  liquor  was  practised 


208      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Edward  III.,  and  that  it 
continued  down  to  a  comparatively  recent  period. 
In  the  eighteenth  century  we  get  some  curious 
information  about  the  *  honest  malt  and  hops  '  of  the 
*  good  old  days.'  In  1790  Samuel  Child,  a  brewer, 
published  a  pamphlet  on  the  *  art  and  mystery  of 
brewing  porter,  ale,  twopenny,  and  table  beer,*  with 
the  laudable  intention  of  enabling  people  to  brew 
their  own  beer  *  of  the  same  quality  as  in  a  brewery. ' 
The  directions  for  porter  are  explicit: 

*  Take  1  quarter  of  malt,  8  lbs.  of  hops,  6  lbs.  of 
treacle,  8  lbs.  of  liquorice  root,  8  lbs.  of  essentia  bina 
(moist  sugar),  8  lbs.  of  ''  colour, *'  ^  oz.  capsicum,  2 
oz.  Spanish  liquorice,  1  oz.  cocculus  indicus,  2  drachms 
salt  of  tartar,  ^  oz.  **  heading  *'  (alum  and  copperas), 
3  oz.  ginger,  4  oz.  slaked  lime,  1  oz.  linseed,  2  oz. 
cinnamon  water.' 

These  ingredients,  he  continues,  '  however  perni- 
cious they  may  appear,  must  invariably  be  used  by 
those  who  wish  to  continue  the  taste,  flavour,  and 
appearance  which  they  have  been  accustomed  to.' 
For  ale  other  things  of  a  *  vehemently  poisonous  and 
stupefying  quality  '  are  given. 

Another  writer  in  1795  mentions  cocculus 
indicus,  aloes,  Bohemian  rosemary,  opium,  tobacco, 
henbane,  and  wormwood,  as  used  to  brew  London 
porter.  The  gentleman  who  gave  expert  evidence 
in  1854  mentioned  some  of  these  drugs,  but  did 
not  venture  to  assert  that  they  were  still  used 
at  that  time.  It  is  quite  certain  that  they  are 
not   used  now.    The   object  has  disappeared   with 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  209 

the  changed  conditions  of  the  traffic.  When 
there  were  no  hours  of  closing  and  no  penalties  for 
permitting  drunkenness  it  was  obviously  to  the  pub- 
lican's advantage  to  stupefy  his  customers  so  that 
they  remained  on  the  premises  and  began  drinking 
again,  on  coming  to,  so  long  as  they  had  any  money. 
Now  he  has  to  turn  them  out  at  closing  time  and  is 
liable  to  get  into  trouble  if  they  are  in  a  very  bad 
state;  so  that,  apart  from  adulteration  Acts,  he  has 
every  inducement  not  to  drug  them. 

No  doubt  other  ingredients  besides  malt  and  hops 
are  used  in  brewing;  the  law  allows  it,  and  to  some 
extent  seasonal  difficulties  render  it  necessary;  but 
that  stupefying  or  thirst-creating  drugs  are  used  in 
such  quantities  as  to  produce  those  effects  is  proved 
to  be  a  complete  fable  by  the  regular  analyses  of 
the  Inland  Revenue  Board,  and  by  the  evidence  of 
one's  own  senses.  A  slight  excess  of  salt  in  some 
cases  is  the  only  charge  of  any  importance  sustained 
by  analysis,  and  that  only  in  such  measure  as  may 
be  accounted  for  by  the  amount  of  salt  naturally 
present  in  the  water  used  for  brewing.  No  one  with 
a  sensitive  palate  can  fail  to  notice  that  draught  beer 
is  very  often  watered,  and  that  some  kinds — par- 
ticularly porter  and  bitter — generally  contain  other 
things  besides  malt,  hops,  and  sugar;  but  the  town 
vorking  man's  small-beer,  if  more  open  to  the 
former  charge,  is  less  guilty  of  the  latter  than  more 
pretentious  beers,  and  in  any  case  the  foreign  sub- 
stances are  not  injurious  to  health,  still  less  conducive 
to  intoxication,  which  is  the  very  thing  the  publican 


210      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

wishes  to  avoid.  As  for  spirits,  analysis  has  for 
some  years  practically  failed  to  find  any  adulteration 
except  water,  and  *  the  old  practice  of  adding  various 
chemicals  to  conceal  the  loss  of  strength  seems  to 
have  been  abandoned  '  (Report  1890-1) .  The  vision 
of  the  honest  toiler  stupefied  by  narcotics  in  his  beer, 
or  raving  under  the  influence  of  vitriolic  spirits,  has 
no  bodily  counterpart  in  the  public-house.  What 
power,  by  the  by,  there  is  in  a  word!  Vitriol 
sounds  capable  of  anything,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
in  such  a  diluted  form  as  alone  is  swallowable  it  is  a 
capital  stomachic  and  general  tonic,  having  no  effect 
on  the  brain  whatever.  Taste  is  another  matter,  and 
personally  I  think  the  modern  substitute-brewed 
bitter  beer  and  patent-still  spirits  very  nasty.  But 
the  spirits  are  highly  rectified  and  contain  little  or 
no  *  fusel  oil ;  '  and  the  beer  is  very  light.  *  Four 
ale  '  is  at  least  as  weak  as  lager;  it  takes  gallons  to 
make  a  man  drunk,  but  then,  they  drink  gallons. 

Drunkards. — ^We  are  still  at  the  Blue  Boar, 
watching  the  working  man  slowly  consume  his  beer, 
the  while  he  converses  with  his  mates.  A  glass  lasts 
him  perhaps  half  an  hour,  and  if  he  wants  another 
he  has  to  call  for  it.  Customers  come  and  go,  but 
not  one  exhibits  a  sign  of  intoxication.  In  his  *  Seven 
Curses  of  London,'  Mr.  James  Greenwood  draws 
attention  to  the  small  proportion  of  drunkenness  to  be 
seen  in  the  public-house  compared  with  the  amount 
of  drinking;  and  he  suggests  that  100  men  should 
be  set  to  watch  100  houses,  and  note  the  sobriety  of 
those  leaving  them.    This  is  the  only  piece  of  direct 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  211 

observation  and  the  only  plea  for  that  method  of 
studying  the  facts  that  I  have  been  able  to  discover 
in  the  entire  mass  of  literature  on  the  subject.  My 
own  experience  entirely  corroborates  his,  but  I  should 
say  that  moderate  drinkers  are  in  a  far  stronger 
majority  to-day  than  even  when  he  wrote.  I  am 
confident  that  out  of  100  persons  whom  you  see 
drinking  on  any  given  night  you  will  not  find  more 
than  one  drinking  to  excess;  and  I  believe  that  the 
average  proportion  of  moderate  to  excessive  drinkers 
is  very  much  greater  than  100  to  1.  On  the  other 
hand  the  visible  good  behaviour  is  in  some,  and  per- 
haps a  good  many,  cases  only  skin  deep.  And,  as  luck 
will  have  it,  here,  in  this  quiet  public-house,  a  dra- 
matic incident  suddenly  occurs  under  our  very  noses, 
which  throws  a  strong  light  on  the  subject.  Two 
workmen  come  in  perfectly  sober,  and  one  of  them 
stands  treat  for  two  glasses  of  ale.  His  mate  is  in  the 
act  of  drinking  when  the  door  opens,  and  two  terrible- 
looking  women  rush  in.  The  elder  is  a  wretched 
hag,  who  has  already  *  had  a  drop ;  *  the  other,  a  big 
heavily  built  woman,  is  perfectly  sober  and  in  deadly 
tragic  earnest,  her  eyes  blazing  with  excitement  out 
of  her  broad,  flat,  livid  face.  She  is  ragged  and 
filthy,  and  carries  a  baby,  six  or  eight  months  old, 
more  dirty  and  ragged  than  herself. 

*  So  IVe  caught  you,  have  I,  ye  scoundrel? 
Drinking  again?  And  where  did  you  get  the  money 
from?  '  she  shrieks. 

*  This  gentleman  gave  me  a  glass  of  beer,  that's  all, 
sheepishly  answers  the  man,  indicating  his  friend. 


212       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

*  Then  he's  as  bad  as  you,  ye  scoundrel.  YouVe 
left  me  and  the  children  to  starve — me  and  the  four 
bits  of  children.  Ay,'  she  continues,  raising  her 
voice  and  shouting  at  him  for  every  one  to  hear,  ^  you 
had  two  pounds  on  Friday,  and  what  did  you  bring 
home  for  me  and  the  children?  Not  one  farthing 
— not  that  much!  You  took  it  all,  and  us  with 
nothing  in  the  house.  And  when  you  come  home 
drunk  and  I  rummaged  in  your  pockets  like  a  thief 
what  did  I  find?  Seven  and  threepence.  Two 
pounds  on  Friday  night  and  spent  it  all  but  seven 

and  threepence  among  the ,  ye scoundrel! 

And  me  a  stranger  here  all  alone  without  father  or 
mother  or  sister  or  brother!  I'm  going  into  the 
workhouse  at  ten  o'clock  to-morrow  morning,  me 
and  the  four  bits  of  kids,  so  help  me  God !  But  out 
you  go  out  of  here,  or  I'll  twist  your  head  off.  I'm 
your  lawful  wedded  wife,  ain't  I?  ' 

*  Yes,'  from  the  man,  though  she  wears  no 
wedding-ring — pawned,  no  doubt. 

*  And  you  leave  me  and  the  children  to  starve 
with  two  pounds  in  your  pocket.  You  left  us  once 
before  without  that  much,'  showing  the  tip  of  her 
little  finger,  *  and  then  there  were  three  children. 
Now  there  are  four.  Out  ye  go!  '  He  has  not  a 
word  to  say. 

She  drags  him  to  the  door,  thrusts  him  through, 
and  as  he  disappears  bangs  him  savagely  between  the 
shoulders. 

Not  a  word  has  been  spoken  by  any  bystander. 
The  woman  has  raised  a  tremendous  din  and  used 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  213 

mticli  language  which  cannot  be  written  down,  but  no 
one  behind  the  bar  has  interfered;  her  voice  has  the 
ring  of  truth,  and  it  is  felt  that  she  is  in  the  right. 

Now  this  incident  brings  us  face  to  face  with 
the  central  crux  of  the  drink  question.  Drunkards 
may  be  broadly  divided  into  three  classes:  (1)  the 
accidental,  (2)  the  deliberate,  and  (3)  the  inveterate 
or  dipsomaniac.  The  first  class  is  of  little  importance, 
excepting  so  far  as  it  leads  to  the  second.  The 
victim  is  generally  young,  always  sick  and  sorry 
after  the  event,  and  easily  amenable  to  good 
influences.  The  third  class,  again,  belongs  almost 
entirely  to  the  higher  ranks  of  life,  so  far  as  the 
men  are  concerned.  I  speak  of  England;  in  Scot- 
land the  case  is  different.  The  English  working 
man  is  very  seldom  a  dipsomaniac,  that  is,  a  creature 
possessed  by  a  morbid  longing  for  drink;  for  two 
reasons:  he  works  off  the  effects  of  liquor  by  the 
physical  exertion  involved  in  his  occupation,  but 
still  more  because  he  is  essentially  a  beer-drinker, 
and  beer  rarely  causes  that  degeneration  of  the 
nerves  to  which  dipsomania  is  due.  Drunken 
women,  on  the  other  hand,  are  generally  gin-drinkers 
and  dipsomaniacs. 

For  dipsomaniacs  there  is  only  one  treatment: 
complete  and  forced  abstinence  from  drink.  There 
remains  the  second  class,  the  deliberate  drunkard, 
and  by  that  I  mean  a  man  who  gets  drunk  often, 
even  regularly,  and  intentionally.  He  is  the  centre 
of  the  problem  as  a  social  evil:  his  habits  are  the 
cause  of  most  of  the  misery,  pauperism,  cruelty,  and 


214      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

crime  attributed  to  drink.     Take  him  away  and  the 

evil    shrinks    to    comparatively    smaU    proportions. 

The  man  we  have  just  seen  turned  out  belongs  to 

this  class,  and  he  is  worth  some  attention.    Is  he  a 

miserable,  degraded,  sodden  creature,  the  degenerate 

offspring  of  degenerate  parents?     Not  the  least  in 

the   world.    He   is   a   fine   healthy   man    of    about 

thirty-six,  with  an  open  countenance,  a  wholesome 

complexion,  and  a  clear  eye.    A  rivetter  by  trade,  he 

earns  good  wages,  as  his  wife  has  just  told  us.    If  he 

chose  he  could  keep  a  comfortable  and  happy  home, 

but  the  appearance  of  the  woman  and  child  shows 

that  it  is  wretched,  dirty,  and  poverty-stricken.    The 

explanation  is  that  he  is  just  a  self-indulgent  fellow 

fond  of  pleasure,  and  that  he  finds  it  in  company 

and  drink.     He  has  no  *  craving  '  for  alcohol,  and 

can  keep  sober  as  easily  as  you  or  I,  if  he  chooses; 

but  he  does  not  choose.     He  deliberately  prefers  to 

drink  and  to  spend  his  money  on  what  he  considers 

a  joUy  evening.*     There  are  worse  than  he,  because 

at    least    he    earns    the    money    himself,    but    he 

represents  the  type  morally,  and  in  ten  years  may 

have  become  one  of  the  *  unemployed,'  living  on  his 

wife  and  children.     What  is  to  be  done  with  this 

'  victim  '  of  the  liquor  traffic?    For  my  part  I  should 

hold  him  responsible  for  his  own  conduct  and  make 

*  I  have  quoted  Defoe  on  this  head  in  a  previous  chapter. 

Captain  Marryatt  has  a  character,  illustrating  a  minor  degree 

of  the  same  thing,  in  the  person  of  a  Thames  bargeman  who 

indignantly  denies  that  he  is  a  *  drunkard,'  but  every  now  and 

then  gets  deliberately  drunk  and  freely  announces  his  intention 

beforehand.     * 'Cos  why?'  he  says.    "Cos  I  chooses.'    That  is 

perfectly  true  to  life. 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  215 

him  smart  for  it,  if  I  were  asked  how  to  cure  him. 
At  present  everything  is  made  easy  for  him,  as  I 
have  pointed  out  before.  We  encourage  him  by 
taking  care  of  his  family,  helping  him  home  when  he 
is  drunk,  seeing  that  he  does  not  get  run  over  or 
break  his  neck,  and  in  a  word  protecting  him  from 
the  consequences  of  his  own  acts.  The  temperance 
people  further  encourage  him  by  telling  him  that  he 
is  the  victim  of  the  public-house  (at  which  he  grins 
in  his  sleeve),  and  that  they  are  going  to  protect 
him  by  shutting  it  up. 

Let  us  ask  an  expert  witness  what  he  thinks 
of  it.  A  working  man  at  my  side  has  watched  the 
whole  scene,  and  now  gives  me  the  opportunity  by 
opening  conversation  on  his  own  account. 

*  You  haven't  seen  a  bit  like  that,  sir,  for  a  long 
time,  I'll  be  bound.  Lord,  she  give  it  him  straight, 
and  no  mistake,  didn't  she?  ' 

*  She  did.  When  one  sees  a  thing  like  that  one 
does  not  wonder  that  people  talk  so  much  about  the 
evils  of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  want  to  do  something  to 
stop  it.  Now,  public-houses  are  very  thick  about 
here;  do  you  think  it  would  have  any  effect  if  half 
of  them  were  shut  up  ?  ' 

*  It  would  have  just  this  effect,  that  the  rest  would 
get  the  custom  of  the  ones  shut  up. ' 

*  But  suppose  they  were  all  shut  up  ?  ' 

*  Well,  I  can  tell  you  what  would  happen  tJien.' 
'  What?  ' 

*  They  would  drink  in  private  houses.  What's  to 
prevent  'em?    Three  or  four  chaps  would  just  club 


216       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

together  and  get  in  a  cask.  You  see,  what  they 
want  is  the  company,  the  pipe,  and  the  glass  of 
beer;  but  if  they  had  it  in  a  private  house  they 
would  drink  more.  In  course  they  would,  it  stands 
to  reason,  'cos  there  'd  be  no  one  to  look  after  'em. ' 

He  knows  nothing  of  prohibition  laws,  being  an 
ignorant  man,  but  he  has  accurately  stated  their 
known  effects,  because  he  thoroughly  understands  the 
drinker. 

The  Publican  and  Drunkenness. — The  company, 
the  pipe,  and  the  glass  of  beer!  Moderate  temper- 
ance reformers  would  be  quite  satisfied  with  that 
programme,  but  under  present  conditions,  they  say, 
the  glass  of  beer  is  multiplied  indefinitely  to  the  point 
of  intoxication,  and  they  are  quite  right.  For  this 
they  blame  the  publican,  who  is  alleged  to  encourage 
intemperance  by  '  pushing  the  sale  '  of  drink,  and 
serving  those  who  have  already  had  too  much.  The 
first  charge  is  so  absolutely  contrary  to  my  own 
experience  that  I  have  often  tried  to  ascertain  from 
those  who  used  the  argument  on  what  evidence  it 
rests,  and  the  only  answer  I  have  ever  been  able  to 
get  is  that  it  stands  to  reason.  It  may  stand  to 
reason,  but  does  it  stand  to  fact?  What  is  our 
experience  this  evening?  Here  am  I,  a  customer 
obviously  with  money,  standing  for  forty  minutes  at 
the  bar  of  this  public-house,  and  not  once  have  I 
even  been  asked  if  they  can  serve  me  with  anything. 
One  glass  of  beer  I  obtained  by  calling  for  it.  The 
working  men  along  the  counter  have  been  even 
more  neglected.    A  new-comer  is  occasionally  asked 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  217 

what  he  will  take,  but  far  more  often  he  has  to  call. 
As  for  pressing  anything  upon  anybody,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  attempt  at  such  a  thing.  Let  us  leave 
the  Blue  Boar  and  walk  up  the  street,  looking  in  for  a 
moment  at  the  other  publics  in  passing.  Everywhere 
the  same  scene,  except  that  the  attendants  are  more 
often  men  or  lads  than  women — the  same  sort  of 
customers  standing  at  the  bar,  talking  and  smoking, 
with  the  same  pots  of  beer  before  them,  the  at- 
tendants answering  calls  with  greater  or  less  alacrity. 
They  are  fairly,  not  especially,  busy,  but  if  you  step 
up  to  the  bar  several  minutes  at  least  will  elapse 
before  any  offer  is  made  to  serve  you,  and  unless 
you  render  yourself  pretty  conspicuous  the  chances 
are  that  none  will  be  made  at  all.  The  difficulty 
in  all  these  places  is  not  to  avoid  drink  but  to  get 
served.  In  any  case  the  invitation  is  nothing  more 
pressing  than  *  What  can  I  get  you?  '  In  truth,  the 
theory  of  pushing  the  sale  does  not  stand  to  reason. 
The  number  of  articles  on  sale  in  a  public-house 
is  very  limited,  they  are  all  of  the  same  class,  and 
customers  know  exactly  what  they  want.  The 
publican  exercises  no  influence  over  them  whatever, 
and  would  only  be  laughed  at  if  he  attempted  it. 
I  have  asked  a  prominent  temperance  reformer, 
who  spoke  of  pushing  the  sale,  how  it  was  done. 
The  table  stood  between  us,  and  I  said,  *  Here  is  the 
bar,  I  am  a  customer,  you  the  publican;  show  me 
how  you  would  push  the  sale ;  begin !  *  He  was  taken 
completely  aback,  and  could  only  reply  that  it  had 
never  been  put  to  him  like  that  before.     Again,  it 


218       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

is  thought  that  the  publican  is  reluctant  to  sell 
temperance  drinks,  and  that  a  good  deal  might  be 
done  by  exchanging  him  for  some  one  having  an 
interest  in  selling  them.  We  will  go  into  the  Rose 
and  Crown  and  see.  I  ask  the  landlord  for  a  bottle 
of  lemonade  and  he  gives  it  me  at  once. 

*  You  don't  mind  selling  this  then?  '  I  ask. 

'  Not  at  all.  It's  all  one  to  me,  or  rather,  to  tell 
the  truth,  I  prefer  selling  temperance  drinks,  as 
I  make  more  profit  on  them.  I  keep  all  sorts, 
lemonade,  gingerade,  ginger-beer,  and  mineral 
waters.  People  have  whatever  they  ask  for.  I  have 
about  one  hundred  teetotalers  in  during  the  week, 
and  they  are  served  with  their  lemonade  or  anything 
they  like  the  same  as  anybody  else.' 

But  there  is  one  thing,  at  any  rate,  the  publican 
can  do  for  temperance,  and  that  is,  refuse  to  serve 
a  person  who  has  already  had  too  much.  Moreover, 
he  is  bound  to  do  it  by  the  Act  of  1872,  under  a 
penalty  of  101.  for  the  first  offence,  and  20Z.  for  the 
second.  His  enemies  have  a  real  handle  against 
him  here,  for  the  record  of  convictions,  which  can 
only  represent  a  fraction  of  the  offences,  proves  that 
too  many  publicans  are  lax  upon  this  point.  Un- 
doubtedly there  is  room  for  improvement,  especially 
in  villages  and  small  places;  but  in  large,  well- 
policed  centres  of  population,  the  possibilities  of 
improvement  are  fewer  than  they  may  seem  at  first 
sight.  An  incident  in  this  very  public-house  throws 
a  light  on  the  question.  A  woman  of  the  poorest 
class,  with  bare  head  and  shawl — probably  Irish — is 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  219 

sitting  quietly  on  the  bench  having  a  glass  of  *  four 
ale.*  Presently  she  begins  to  talk  to  herself.  *  I 
was  drunk  o*  Palm  Sunday/  she  says  meditatively; 
*  drunk  o'  Palm  Sunday.'  Then  rising  to  her  feet 
and  flinging  up  her  right  hand  dramatically,  she 
shouts,  *  And  may  the  Lord  bless  him  as  give  me 
the  job  to  earn  the  money — and  that's  Mr.  Levi. 
May  the  Lord  bless 'm  anschildnschildn — and 
proshperm!  '  She  is  drunk,  not  badly,  but  still  un- 
deniably drunk.  She  wants  another  glass.  *  No, 
missis,  that's  enough  for  you — you  had  better  be  oflc 
home.'    And  she  goes. 

*  Why  did  you  serve  her  at  all?  '  I  ask. 

*  She  had  no  appearance  of  being  drunk  when  she 
came  in.' 

And  indeed  she  had  not  when  I  first  saw  her. 

*  You  see,'  continues  the  landlord,  *  it's  impossible 
to  tell  sometimes.  Suppose  I'm  at  the  other  end 
of  the  bar;  some  one  comes  in  here,  steadies  himself 
up  against  the  counter,  and  calls  for  a  drink.  I 
haven't  seen  him  come  in,  his  voice  is  all  right,  and 
he  is  standing  steady  with  his  hand  on  the  counter. 
I  can't  possibly  know  he's  drunk.  We  never  serve 
them  if  we  do  know;  it's  not  to  our  interest,  as  they 
are  likely  to  annoy  other  customers.' 

The  experience  of  the  Scandinavian  *  managed  ' 
houses  fully  confirms  this;  with  the  best  will  in  the 
world  to  prevent  it,  drunken  people  are  still  served. 

Women  and  Children  in  the  Public-house. — The 
foregoing  incident  suggests  a  reference  to  the  most 
deplorable   feature   of   our   liquor   traffic,    and   one 


220       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

peculiar  to  ourselves.  We  have  not  exactly  a 
monopoly  of  female  drunkenness,  but  we  have  far 
more  than  any  of  our  neighbours,  and  in  no  other 
country  is  it  the  custom  for  women  and  children 
to  frequent  the  public-house  as  it  is  with  us.  The 
women  are  dreadful  beyond  all  description.  When 
once  they  take  to  it,  they  are  more  often  drunk  than 
the  men,  more  violent,  shameless,  degraded,  and 
incurable.  In  other  words,  they  become  real 
dipsomaniacs,  and  the  habit  of  gin-drinking  is  the 
cause.  So  long  as  they  confine  themselves  to  beer 
they  can  retain  some  self-control,  and  no  great  harm 
is  done;  but  women  take  very  readily  to  spirits, 
because  this  concentrated  form  of  alcohol  heartens 
them  up  in  the  moments  of  weakness,  pain,  and 
depression  entailed  by  their  sex  and  want  of  physical 
strength.  It  is  difficult  to  see,  however,  why  our 
women  should  be  so  peculiarly  given  to  the  vice, 
except  that  public  opinion  in  their  own  class 
attaches  less  shame  to  it  than  elsewhere.  Appar- 
ently the  infection  caught  them  when  first  the 
wave  of  spirit-drinking,  introduced  from  Holland 
and  Germany,  spread  over  this  country  at  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  tradition  has  remained 
ever  since.  Happily  it  is  now  much  less  prevalent 
than  formerly.  We  have  certainly  improved  since 
the  days  of  1830,  when  seventy-two  cases  were 
brought  to  Bow  Street  on  a  Monday  *  for  absolute 
and  beastly  drunkenness,  and  what  was  worse,  they 
were  mostly  women  wJio  had  been  picked  up  in  the 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  221 

streets,  where  they  had  fallen  dead  drunk;  *  and  the 
following  little  scene  emphasises  this  more  cheerful 
view  of  the  question.  A  woman  stands  at  the  half- 
open  door  of  a  public-house  as  we  pass,  and  calls  to 
a  man  inside  to  come  out. 

*  Come  in,  mate,'  he  shouts  back,  *  don't  be  a 
fool.' 

*  No,'  she  says,  *  I  shan't;  I'm  nearly  tipsy 
already.    Come  on  home.'    And  he  comes. 

Children  in  the  public-house  are,  I  believe,  quite 
peculiar  to  this  country.  You  see  them  of  all  ages, 
from  extreme  infancy  upwards.  Here,  for  instance, 
are  two  girls  having  glasses  of  stout,  not  in  a  hurry, 
but  sitting  down  for  a  good  long  stay,  and  one  of 
them  suckles  a  baby  not  more  than  a  fortnight  old. 
In  all  cases  the  parents  are  wholly  responsible.  You 
never  see  children  frequenting  the  public-house  on 
their  own  account;  they  are  either  brought  by  their 
parents  or  sent  to  fetch  beer.  I  have  never  seen 
any  reason  to  suppose  that  the  law  about  serving 
children  is  broken.  Boys  who  find  their  way  into 
the  public-house  to  sell  things  are  turned  out 
promptly.  The  parents,  however,  not  only  bring 
them  in,  but  teach  them  to  drink.  I  lately  saw  a 
respectable-looking  couple  take  four  young  children, 
the  youngest  in  arms,  into  a  public-house,  and  when 
they  came  out  they  were  all  wiping  their  mouths. 
I  ventured  to  ask  them  if  they  thought  it  the  right 
thing  to  do,  and  the  man,  to  do  him  justice,  did  seem 
ashamed  of  himself.  The  woman,  having  nothing 
to  say  in  defence  of  her  conduct,   took  refuge  in 


222       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

abusing  me.  It  is  done,  as  I  have  already  pointed 
out,  in  ignorance  and  thoughtlessness  from  a  mistaken 
idea  of  kindness.  It  could  only  be  prevented  by  pro- 
hibiting children  under  a  certain  age  from  entering 
licensed  premises  at  all;  and  that  is  impossible  so 
long  as  the  law  makes  no  distinction  between  hotels 
and  pothouses. 

Betting  in  Puhlic-Jiouses. — This  is  the  greatest 
blot  on  the  liquor  trade,  because  it  is  deliberately 
countenanced,  encouraged,  and  even  carried  on  by 
some  publicans;  but  it  is  confined  to  particular 
houses  in  particular  quarters,  and  therefore  a  brief 
reference  will  suffice.  Of  course  it  is  illegal,  and 
the  police  know  all  about  it,  because  they  receive 
innumerable  complaints  from  the  relatives  of  those 
who  squander  their  money  in  this  fatuous  way,  but 
convictions  are  hard  to  obtain.  The  disappearance 
or  reform  of  the  public-house  would  not  diminish  the 
practice  in  the  very  slightest  degree,  as  it  would  be 
carried  on  in  shops  and  clubs,  which  are  already  more 
extensively  used  for  the  purpose  than  licensed 
premises. 

To  conclude  this  little  study  from  the  life,  let 
me  add  that  neither  the  occasion  nor  the  locality 
was  specially  selected,  and  that  the  scenes  and 
incidents  presented  themselves  exactly  as  described 
in  the  course  of  a  single  evening.  Similar  scenes 
may  be  witnessed  at  any  time  in  any  working-class 
neighbourhood.  The  chief  lesson  to  be  drawn  is 
the  one  with  which  I  began.  The  public-house  is 
not  a  nice  place,  but  the  fault  lies  mainly  with  the 


THE  ENGLISH  PUBLIC-HOUSE  223 

customers.  It  can  only  become  a  nice  place  through 
an  organic  social  change  in  which  they  share.  The 
notion  that  its  character  can  be  revolutionised  by 
any  *  system  *  by  providing  meals  or  investing 
lemonade  with  *  prestige  ' — whatever  that  curious  ex- 
pression may  mean — is  quite  illusory.  I  notice  that 
at  one  of  the  model  public-houses  the  average  daily 
takings  in  1901  were  101.  13s.  6d.  for  liquor,  and  85. 
Id.  for  food.  That  corresponds  exactly  with  the  ex- 
pectations formed  from  observation.  The  people  buy 
what  they  want,  which  is  liquor;  and  they  will  go 
on  buying  it.  But  we  can  insist  that  they  shall  buy 
in  a  decent  and  orderly  manner. 

It  should  be  understood  that  I  have  only  been 
describing  the  liquor  traffic  as  it  exists  in  populous 
places.  In  rural  districts  the  conditions  differ  con- 
siderably.   They  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 


224      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE 

The  interesting  scheme  initiated  by  Lord  Grey 
for  the  systematic  establishment  of  model  public- 
bouses  on  the  Scandinavian  company  principle  has 
deservedly  attracted  much  favourable  attention. 
The  scheme  is  the  formation  of  trusts,  by  counties, 
for  running  public-houses  under  disinterested  man- 
agement, the  surplus  profits  after  payment  of  5  per 
cent,  being  devoted  to  public  and  philanthropic 
purposes.  This  is  the  Scandinavian  principle,  but 
not,  it  must  be  understood,  applied  as  in  Scan- 
dinavia. There  all  the  licenses  for  retailing  spirits 
in  a  town  are  taken  over  by  the  company,  which 
consequently  has  a  monopoly  and  complete  control 
as  to  number  of  houses,  hours  of  sale,  price  of  liquor, 
&c.  This  is  the  Scandinavian  system,  of  which 
more  details  are  given  in  the  next  chapter.  The 
county  trust  scheme,  on  the  other  hand,  only  affects 
isolated  houses  as  opportunity  arises,  either  by 
obtaining  a  new  license  or  taking  over  an  old  one, 
and  is  not  likely  to  enjoy  a  monopoly  except  in 
small  places.  Elsewhere  it  must  enter  into  compe- 
tition with  the  ordinary  trade,  and  it  is  of  course 


THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE  225 

subject  to  the  same  legal  and  administrative  control. 
It  is  not  altogether  a  new  thing,  but  is  rather  an 
organised  extension  of  a  movement  begun  some 
years  ago  by  individual  owners  of  public-houses,  and 
it  has  therefore  some  experience  to  go  upon.  The 
earliest  pioneer  was  the  Rev.  Osbert  Mordaunt, 
rector  of  Hampton  Lucy,  in  Warwickshire,  where 
he  has  conducted  the  village  inn  at  the  sign  of  the 
Boar's  Head  for  more  than  twenty-five  years.  What- 
ever credit  is  due  for  initiating  model  public-houses 
in  England  on  the  Scandinavian  principle  belongs 
to  Mr.  Mordaunt,  whose  personally  conducted  ex- 
periment forms  a  genuine  object-lesson  and  at  the 
same  time  throws  an  incidental  light  on  some  points 
in  connection  with  the  general  conduct  of  the  liquor 
traffic.  The  many  who  are  sympathetically  or  prac- 
tically interested  in  the  trust  scheme  will  find  both 
instruction  and  encouragement  in  the  story  of  the 
original  model. 

Hampton  Lucy  is  a  typical  English  village  with 
a  population  of  about  460  and  a  single  public- 
house.  It  lies  just  outside  Charlecote  Park,  midway 
between  Warwick  and  Stratford-on-Avon,  and  several 
miles  from  a  railway  station.  The  conditions  of 
life,  therefore,  are  essentially  rural  and  exactly  like 
those  to  be  found  in  innumerable  villages  throughout 
every  part  of  the  country.  The  circumstances  of 
the  public-house,  however,  are  peculiar.  It  belongs 
to  the  parish.  The  late  rector  bought  it  from  the 
former  owner,  and  left  it  in  his  will  to  the  parish 
under  the  sole  trusteeship  of  the  incumbent  for  the 


226       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

time  being.  The  rent  was  to  go  to  pay  the  village 
organist's  salary  in  perpetuum,  but  no  other  stipula- 
tion was  made.  Accordingly  Mr.  Mordaunt,  on 
succeeding  to  the  living,  found  himself  sole  trustee 
of  the  property,  and  at  liberty  to  administer  it  as  he 
thought  fit  for  the  benefit  of  the  place.  At  that 
time  it  was  let  in  the  usual  way  to  a  tenant  and 
carried  on  as  an  ordinary  public-house;  and  the  new 
rector  at  first  made  no  attempt  to  alter  the  arrange- 
ment. Finding,  however,  that  the  house  was 
conducted  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  manner  by  the 
landlady  in  possession,  the  widow  of  the  former 
publican,  and  that  remonstrance  was  of  no  avail,  he 
gave  her  six  months'  notice  and  got  rid  of  her. 
The  choice  then  lay  between  closing  the  house 
altogether  and  conducting  it  upon  different  lines. 
Some  reformers  would,  of  course,  have  no  hesitation 
in  such  a  case;  they  would  close  the  accursed  thing 
amid  bonfires  and  other  signs  of  public  rejoicing, 
and  then  have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  another 
establishment,  over  which  they  would  have  no 
control,  opened  over  the  way  in  the  course  of  a  few 
months.  Ejiowing  this  perfectly  well,  Mr.  Mordaunt 
boldly  resolved,  on  the  suggestion  of  a  friend,  to  run 
the  place  himself.  The  squire  of  the  parish  fell  in  with 
his  views,  and  promised  not  to  allow  a  rival  estab- 
lishment to  be  started.  A  trustworthy  manager  was 
found  in  one  of  Mr.  Mordaunt 's  own  servants,  who 
gladly  undertook  to  discharge  the  duties  with  the 
help  of  his  wife  in  return  for  a  small  salary  and  the 
use  of  the  house  rent  free.  And  so  the  Boar's  Head 
was  started  as  a  model  public-house  in  the  year  1876. 


THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE  227 

To-day,  after  twenty-five  years,  Mr.  Mordaunt  can 
look  back  on  the  results  with  complete  satisfaction. 

The  most  important  change  introduced  into  the 
conduct  of  the  house,  next  to  the  appointment  of  a 
salaried  manager  in  lieu  of  a  publican,  was  the 
withdrawal  of  spirits  from  the  bar.  This  step 
caused  a  considerable  outcry  at  first,  especially,  be  it 
noted,  on  the  part  of  the  women,  which  confirms 
what  I  have  previously  said  about  the  tendency  of 
women  to  spirit-drinking.  They  declared  that  life 
would  be  endangered  if  they  could  not  send  out  for 
a  drop  of  brandy  or  gin  upon  occasion.  The 
objection  was  met  by  adding  spirits  to  the  stock  of 
simple  medicines  kept  for  the  use  of  the  villagers  at 
the  rectory,  which  almost  adjoins  the  public-house, 
and,  as  it  happened,  no  death  occurred  in  the  place 
for  sixteen  months  after  the  change  had  been  made, 
so  the  objection  died  away.  No  hardship  is  inflicted 
by  withdrawing  spirits  from  the  village  bar,  because 
ample  opportunity  of  buying  it  by  the  bottle  is 
afforded  to  those  who  really  need  it,  or  think  they 
need  it,  by  the  travelling  grocers'  carts.  Mr.  Mor- 
daunt, however,  believes  that  much  less  is  consumed 
when  it  has  to  be  bought  by  the  bottle  than  when 
a  few  pennyworths  can  be  procured  at  a  time  over 
the  counter. 

The  next  point  that  engaged  his  attention  was 
the  supply  of  good  beer,  and  for  some  years  it  gave 
him  no  little  trouble.  *  We  tried  several  brewers,' 
he  says,  *  with  varying  success.  Some  of  them 
served  us  well  at  first;  then,  after  a  time,  we  have 


228       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

been  compelled  to  make  a  change,  because  either  the 
quality  of  the  beer  deteriorated,  or  the  casks  were 
not  properly  filled.'  Deterioration  in  quality  was  at 
once  made  known  by  the  complaints  of  customers, 
and  diminution  in  quantity  by  the  inadequate 
receipts  per  cask.  That  the  charges  were  not 
fanciful  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  fact  that  for 
several  years  now  complete  satisfaction  has  been 
given  by  one  brewery,  and  no  change  has  been  found 
necessary.  The  beer  is  appreciated  by  the  villagers, 
and  has  acquired  a  good  name  in  the  neighbourhood 
as  superior  to  that  sold  in  many  other  public-houses. 
The  only  other  points  to  notice  in  connection  with 
the  conduct  of  the  traffic  are  that  credit  was  abol- 
ished, and  serving  drunken  people  of  course  strictly 
prohibited.  No  alteration  was  made  in  the  house 
itself,  or  in  the  hours  of  closing.  Profits  from  eatables 
and  stabling  horses  go  to  the  manager,  but  this  item 
does  not  amount  to  much. 

The  financial  aspects  of  the   venture   are   shown 
by  the  following  table,  which  gives  an  average  year's 

accounts : 

£     s.    d. 
Receipts      .      ' 315     0     0 

Expenditure — 

Cost  of  Beer 216  0  0 

License 3  18  6 

Taxes  and  Insurance   .  4  10  0 

Repairs 4  18  0 

Fuel,  Light,  &e 14  10  0 

Rent 26  0  0 

Expenses  of  Management  .  16  0  0 

Charities 30  0  0 

Balance 0  3  6 

315     0    0 


THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE  229 

The  community  benefits  by  the  organist's  salary, 
which  is  a  first  charge  on  the  profits  (represented  by 
*  Rent '  in  the  table),  and  by  about  301.  a  year  either 
distributed  among  the  parishioners  in  charity,  or 
otherwise  applied  according  to  the  discretion  of  the 
rector,  who  retains  the  right  to  dispose  of  the 
money  in  the  way  he  thinks  most  conducive  to  the 
public  advantage.  Thus,  two  years'  profits  were  once 
devoted  to  improving  the  water-supply  by  sinking 
wells  and  erecting  pumps — an  ingenious  method  of 
harnessing  the  liquor  traffic  to  the  temperance  car 
which  ought  to  satisfy  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  himself. 
Another  year,  a  windfall  of  52i.  dropped  in  one  week 
by  a  Volunteer  camp  hard  by  in  Charlecote  Park  was 
applied  to  some  other  equally  unexceptionable  public 
purpose.  As  a  rule,  however,  parish  charities  absorb 
the  surplus  profits. 

Before  going  on  to  discuss  some  of  the  points 
raised  by  the  story  of  this  model  public-house,  let 
us  take  one  look  at  it.  Neither  within  nor  without 
does  it  differ  appreciably  from  the  ordinary  rural 
pothouse.  Of  a  plain  and  unpretentious  exterior, 
it  stands  near  the  centre  of  the  village,  hard  by  the 
church  and  the  rectory.  The  sign  of  the  Boar's 
Head,  nailed  against  the  wall  over  the  door,  indicates 
the  character  of  the  establishment  just  as  in  its 
unregenerate  days.  Neither  parade  nor  concealment 
has  been  attempted.  Inside  you  have  the  ordinary 
tap-room,  furnished  with  wooden  seats  and  a  small 
bar,  and  a  larger  parlour  adjacent.  During  the  major 
part  of  the  day  little  business  is  done,   and  what 


230       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

there  is  can  be  easily  attended  to  by  the  manager's 
wife,  a  tidy  woman  who  can  keep  the  accounts. 
With  the  exception  of  occasional  passers-by,  the 
customers  are  an  almost  constant  quantity  and 
regular  in  their  habits.  The  same  men  come  day 
by  day  and  drink  just  about  the  same  amount  of 
beer,  although  no  attempt  is  made  to  limit  them, 
except,  of  course,  by  the  condition  of  sobriety.  They 
have  their  pint  after  dinner  and  their  pint  and  a  half 
or  so  again  in  the  evening,  when  they  come  to  sit 
and  smoke,  and  discuss  the  weather  and  the  crops. 
The  liquor  dispensed  is  light,  but  clean  and  palatable 
stuff.  Drunkenness  seldom  occurs,  and  then  only 
in  persons  who  have  come  in  from  other  places 
already  the  worse  for  liquor,  and  have  been  acci- 
dentally served  with  more.  In  short,  the  Hampton 
Lucy  villager  may  fairly  say  in  the  words  of  the 
poet: 

*  I  takes  my  pipe,  I  tajces  my  pot, 

And  drunk  I'm  never  seen  to  be: 
I'm  no  teetotaler  or  sot 

And  as  I  am  I  means  to  be.* 

And  a  very  good  motto  too,  most  people  will  think. 
Now  the  Boar's  Head  gives  us  a  complete  type 
of  the  village  ale-house,  and  in  considering  its  history 
the  first  thing  to  notice  is  that  the  conditions  differ 
in  many  important  respects  from  those  of  the  town 
public-house,  which  I  discussed  in  the  last  chapter. 
The  alleged  abuses  which  are  imaginary  or  exceptional 
in  the  big  town  do  really  exist  in  the  country. 
The  Boar's  Head  was  an  establishment  conducted  in  a 


THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE  231 

disorderly  manner,  selling  very  queer  liquor,  con- 
stantly harbouring  intoxicated  persons,  and  evading 
the  law  as  to  hours  of  sale.  According  to  my 
experience  these  things  are  more  or  less  true  of  the 
majority  of  country  publics,  and  the  reasons  are 
obvious  enough:  the  publican  has  many  inducements 
to  go  wrong  and  very  few  to  go  right.  In  the  first 
place  he  is  a  poor  man  and  has  considerable  diffi- 
culty in  making  both  ends  meet.  If  you  turn  back 
to  the  Boar's  Head  balance-sheet,  you  will  see  that 
after  the  beer  and  the  license  are  paid  for,  the  profits 
amount  to  951.,  out  of  which  251.  goes  for  rent  and 
24i.  for  other  expenses,  leaving  46Z.  to  live  upon. 
Put  in  another  way,  the  gross  takings  are  61.  or  say 
71.  a  week,  out  of  which  the  net  profit  is  less  than 
21.,  while  rent  and  other  expenses  come  to  about  205., 
leaving  less  than  11.  a  week  for  living.  This  standing 
condition  of  poverty  exercises  an  unfortunate  influ- 
ence upon  the  conduct  of  the  business.  If  the  tenant 
is  an  industrious  man  he  will  combine  the  public- 
house  with  some  other  occupation,  which  practically 
turns  his  wife  into  the  real  landlord,  and  she  being 
housekeeper,  with  the  cares  of  the  exchequer  upon 
her,  naturally  troubles  herself  very  little  about  any 
other  consideration  so  long  as  she  can  make  a  bit 
more  money.  In  the  evening  when  his  other  work 
is  done,  her  husband  becomes  virtually  one  of  her 
customers,  sitting  companionably  with  the  rest  and 
encouraging  them  to  drink  by  his  example;  for  in 
the  village  public  everybody  sits  and  there  is  no 
bar  between  customers  and  publican  as  in  the  town 


232       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

house.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  landlord  is  not 
an  industrious  man,  he  will  to  a  dead  certainty 
spend  his  time  loafing  and  boozing,  which  deprives 
him  of  the  authority  even  if  he  had  the  wish — which 
he  has  not — to  deal  as  he  ought  with  other  boozers. 
The  house  of  such  a  man  becomes  the  rendezvous  of 
hard  drinkers.  Further,  in  a  village  they  are  all 
neighbours  and  friends — or  enemies;  and  the  unfor- 
tunate publican  with  his  small  business,  on  which 
he  can  only  just  rub  along  at  the  best  of  times, 
cannot  afford  to  offend  his  neighbours  by  refusing 
them  drink,  for  instance.  I  have  known  half  the 
regular  customers  of  a  village  inn  forsake  it  and 
take  to  spending  their  evenings  in  the  cobbler's  shop 
because  they  had  some  quarrel  with  the  landlord ;  and 
if  I  remember  right  he  had  to  throw  up  the  busi- 
ness. The  same  reasons  tend  to  make  the  poor  man 
lax  about  closing ;  those  who  know  the  ropes  can  gen- 
erally get  served  during  prohibited  hours  in  a  village 
public  by  judicious  application  made  at  a  convenient 
side  door. 

These  positive  inducements  to  go  wrong  do  not 
exist  in  anything  like  the  same  degree  for  the  town 
publican,  and  even  if  they  did  they  would  be  checked 
by  strong  counter-inducements,  which  in  their  turn 
hardly  affect  the  country  publican.  He  has  so  little 
to  lose  that  he  does  not  mind  incurring  some  risk 
of  being  turned  out,  whereas  the  other  has  generally 
a  great  deal  to  lose,  having  either  invested  a  large 
sum  of  money  of  his  own  in  the  goodwill  of  the 
house  or  having  run  heavily  into  debt  for  the  purpose. 


THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE  233 

This  necessarily  tends  to  make  him  more  careful 
about  getting  into  trouble,  and  then  the  police  look 
after  him  much  more  sharply  than  they  can  possibly 
do  in  the  country.  I  do  not  suppose  rural  constables 
are  any  more  *  corrupt  '  than  their  urban  colleagues, 
but  they  are  more  likely  to  be  on  terms  of  friendly 
intimacy  with  the  publican,  they  are  fewer  in  number, 
and  in  all  respects  less  smart.  Life  runs  down  the 
country  road  with  an  altogether  easier,  looser  rein 
than  on  the  city  pavement.  I  have  accompanied 
a  village  constable  on  his  night  patrol,  and  the  good 
fellow  produced  a  jug  of  beer  left  by  the  publican 
in  a  handy  place  of  concealment,  and  hospitably 
shared  its  contents  without  a  thought  of  reserve. 
The  town  bobby  may  sometimes  know  where  to 
find  a  similar  jug,  but  he  would  certainly  keep  the 
secret  to  himself,  lest  it  should  reach  the  ears  of  his 
inspector.  And  besides  the  comparative  slackness 
of  the  police,  the  village  landlord  has  another  excuse 
for  turning  a  blinder  eye  on  his  inebriated  cus- 
tomers than  the  keeper  of  a  town  '  gin-palace  ' 
can  afford  to  do.  The  reckless  blackguards  frequent- 
ing the  latter  may  break  out  into  alarming  violence 
at  any  moment,  whereas  the  simple-minded  rustics 
are  seldom  given  to  serious  disorder  even  in  their 
cups.  A  glass  too  much  means  stumbling  home 
quietly  without  even  *  going  large  '  and  still  less 
'  raising  Cain,'  to  use  the  classic  phrases  of  modern 
literature. 

For  all  these  reasons,  then,  the  village  pothouse 
is  apt  to  be  conducted  with  more  or  less  deliberate 


234      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

disregard  of  sobriety  and  good  order.  And  in  the 
next  place,  the  liquor  is  often  of  inferior  quality.  I 
have  previously  defended  the  liquor  sold  in  town 
public-houses  from  the  charge  of  injurious  adultera- 
tion, and  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  one  of  the 
main  conditions  which  keep  it  up  to  the  mark  is  the 
keen  competition  carried  on  in  populous  places.  The 
working  man  knows  good  from  bad  when  he  gets 
the  choice,  just  as  well  as  anybody  else — perhaps 
better,  because  his  taste  is  not  perverted  by  the 
vagaries  of  fashion  or  medical  advice — and  where 
many  establishments  compete  for  his  patronage 
they  are  bound  to  maintain  a  good  standard  or 
find  themselves  deserted  for  their  rivals.  Country 
public-houses  lack  this  salutary  stimulus  even  when 
there  are  more  than  one  in  the  same  place,  and  the 
smallness  of  their  profits  constantly  tempts  to  some 
tampering  with  the  liquor.  Mr.  Mordaunt's  ex- 
perience has  led  him  to  form  strong  opinions  on  the 
subject.  *  If  it  is  not  common,'  he  says,  *  to  add 
tobacco  or  salt  or  worse  ingredients  to  the  beer  sold 
in  some  of  our  small  public-houses,  it  must  be  often 
brewed  from  low-class  materials  for  the  sake  of 
extra  profit,  which  goes  into  the  pockets  of  unscru- 
pulous brewers  or  publicans,  or  both.'  He  found 
in  his  own  dealings,  as  I  have  already  described, 
that  attempts  were  made  to  tamper  with  both 
quality  and  quantity,  and  under  the  circumstances 
it  looks  as  if  the  brewer  must  have  been  to  blame. 
The  excellence  of  the  supply  obtained  at  first  from 
a  new  source  and  its  subsequent  deterioration  are 


THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE  235 

painfully  familiar  experiences  to  all  of  us  in  the 
case  of  other  purveyors.  Who  does  not  know  the 
grocer,  the  butcher,  or  the  milkman,  who,  after 
treating  us  well  for  a  time,  has  begun  to  *  try  it  on  * 
with  an  inferior  article?  And  yet  some  of  the  firms 
with  whom  Mr.  Mordaunt  dealt  were  of  such  renown 
and  doing  so  vast  a  trade  that  it  could  not  possibly 
be  worth  their  while  to  descend  to  base  tricks  for 
the  sake  of  a  few  shillings.  The  fault  may  be 
neither  with  the  publican  nor  with  the  brewer,  but 
with  a  third  individual  who  is  often  concerned,  and 
that  is  the  brewer's  local  agent.  Partly  filled  casks 
particularly  suggest  this  gentleman  *s  intervention, 
and  in  one  case  Mr.  Mordaunt  had  his  suspicions 
very  strongly  pointed  in  that  direction,  though  he 
never  could  prove  it.  In  connection  with  bad  liquor 
the  question  of  *  tied  '  houses  occupies  a  good  deal 
of  attention;  but  probably  the  only  man  who  really 
knows  what  influence  the  system  exercises  is  the 
publican  of  varied  experience,  and  it  is  just  possible 
that  he  might  not  tell  the  exact  truth  about  it.  In 
the  country,  houses  are  not  so  much  tied  as  owned 
by  brewers,  and  if  the  firm  is  a  large  and  prosperous 
one  with  a  good  name  to  lose,  the  probabilities  are 
that  for  its  own  sake  it  will  take  care  to  maintain 
that  good  name.  But  that  is  not  always  the  case. 
I  have  known  a  very  large  brewery  supply  one  of 
its  public-houses,  where  there  was  no  competition, 
with  the  most  offensive  stuff,  obviously  consisting 
to  a  large  extent  of  the  rinsings  and  spillings  which 
go  back  to  the  brewery  and  are  sent  out  again  to 


236       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

such  lonely  places.  The  men  would  not  drink  it 
and  the  unfortunate  publican  was  at  his  wits'  end. 
Houses  in  the  hands  of  small  or  speculative  brewers 
are  often  served  with  inferior  stuff.  In  London 
comparatively  few  houses  are  owned  by  brewers, 
but  a  great  many  are  tied  in  the  sense  of  owing 
money  advanced  by  way  of  loan  to  enable  the 
publican  to  start  business.  In  these  cases,  however, 
the  terms  of  the  bond  only  include  malt  liquors,  and 
if  the  brewer  serves  him  with  bad  stuff,  the  publican 
can  go  to  another  and  obtain  money  from  him  to 
pay  off  the  original  loan.  On  the  whole  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  more  the  business  passes  into  the  hands 
of  large  and  reputable  firms  the  better.  That  is 
the  universal  experience  in  other  concerns.  But, 
however  this  may  be,  both  systems  are  as  old  as  the 
trade  itself,  and  the  story  of  the  Boar's  Head  shows 
that  the  most  perfect  freedom  from  brewery  control 
does  not  necessarily  ensure  excellence  of  liquor.  Be- 
fore quitting  this  part  of  the  subject  it  is  only  fair 
to  add  that  Mr.  Mordaunt  has  of  late  years  modified 
his  opinion  about  adulteration,  which  he  does  not 
think  so  bad  as  it  used  to  be.  It  is  clear,  however, 
from  his  experience  that  trusts  or  private  owners  of 
model  houses  will  have  to  keep  a  very  watchful  eye 
on  their  brewer  and  their  manager. 

In  addition  to  lax  control  and  inferior  liquor  the 
country  public-house  differs  in  one  other  respect, 
namely,  the  maintenance  of  the  credit  system,  which 
certainly  makes  for  improvidence  and  intemperance. 
In  spite  of  the  Tippling  Act,  ale-house  scores  still 


THE  MODEL  PUBLIC-HOUSE  237 

appear  to  be  paid,  presumably  as  debts  of  honour; 
or  it  may  be  that  the  publican  prefers  the  risk  of 
losing  his  money  to  offending  a  neighbour.  In  town 
the  thirsty  but  impecunious  customer  of  the  labouring 
class  may  whistle  for  his  half-pint,  except  in  times 
of  strike  or  lock-out,  when  much  indulgence  is  shown 
by  kind-hearted  publicans. 

It  follows  from  the  foregoing  considerations  that 
though  drink  is  a  much  less  serious  evil  in  the 
country  than  in  town,  the  conduct  of  the  rural 
public-house  is,  speaking  generally,  far  more  open 
to  improvement  than  that  of  the  urban  *  gin-palace,' 
which  shows  incidentally  that  the  conduct  of  the 
house  is  only  one  among  a  number  of  factors  in  the 
problem.  And  the  success  of  the  Boar's  Head 
proves  that  under  certain  circumstances  all  the 
improvement  that  any  reasonable  person  can  desire 
may  be  effected  without  injuring  anybody  and  to 
the  general  advantage  of  the  community.  Years  ago 
Mr.  Mordaunt  suggested  that  what  had  been  done 
at  Hampton  Lucy  might  be  done  in  many  other 
places.  *  There  are,'  he  said,  '  many  villages  and 
country  towns  in  which  property  is  not  divided, 
where  the  public-house  or  houses  belong  to  one 
squire  or  landlord.  Why  should  not  such  proprietors 
take  the  matter  into  their  own  hands — this  could  be 
done  with  very  little  trouble  to  themselves — and  so 
promote  health  and  sobriety  among  their  people  t 
By  all  means  let  respect  be  paid  to  the  vested 
interests  of  really  respectable  publicans:  it  would 
be  unfair  to  evict  them.     But  in  cases  where  the 


238      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

management  is  bad  or  drunkenness  encouraged, 
or  of  leases  falling  in,  let  the  landlord  find  a  trust- 
worthy person  or  family  (a  man  and  wife  are  best) 
who  shall  be  content  to  dispense  pure  beer  for  a 
fixed  salary,  keep  accounts  which  shall  be  submitted 
to  periodical  inspection,  and  return  the  profits  to  the 
proprietor,  who  can  dispose  of  them  for  the  benefit 
of  the  parish.  Or  if  he  prefers  to  farm  the  public- 
house  for  his  own  benefit,  let  him  do  so.  He  will 
receive  the  rent  and  the  profits  and  will  probably 
discover  in  these  days  of  agricultural  depression  that 
the  balance  in  his  favour  is  very  acceptable.  Either 
way  the  people  will  soon  learn  to  prefer  such  a  system 
and  be  grateful  for  it.' 

Some  private  owners  took  the  advice  here  and 
there;  then  the  People's  Refreshment  House  Asso- 
ciation was  formed  for  carrying  on  public-houses  in 
the  same  way,  and  now  the  trust  movement  prom- 
ises a  vigorous  extension.  I  consider  it  all  to  the 
good  and  wish  it  every  success.  It  will  work  no 
wonders,  and  will  certainly  not  do  all  that  its  more 
sanguine  promoters  expect;  but  it  will  set  a  good 
example  and  will  tend  to  raise  the  standard  of  char- 
acter and  conduct  in  the  liquor  trade.  Forebodings 
of  ill  effects,  prompted  by  prejudice  and  unsupported 
by  experience,  may  be  disregarded  with  equanimity. 
What  some  of  its  opponents  really  fear  is  that  it 
may  be  too  successful  and  may  pave  the  way  for 
the  optional  introduction  of  the  Scandinavian  sys- 
tem in  full.  That  result  is  neither  unlikely  nor  un- 
desirable. 


CHAPTER  XI 

GOTHENBURG  AND  THE   SCANDINAVIAN   SYSTEM 

The  Scandinavian  system  of  disinterested  manage- 
ment is  very  attractive.  It  gets  rid  of  so  many  trou- 
blesome questions  at  once — licensing,  number  of 
houses,  hours  of  sale,  suitability  of  premises,  encour- 
agement of  malpractices,  &c.,  &c.  And  then  there 
is  something  especially  fascinating  in  the  appropria- 
tion of  surplus  profits  to  public  purposes;  it  is  such  \ 
an  ingenious  mixture  of  business  and  philanthropy. 
The  Norwegian  plan  of  applying  them  to  good  works  V 
or  charitable  objects  is  no  doubt  preferable  to  the 
Swedish  system  of  handing  them  over  to  the  mu- 
nicipal authority  to  relieve  the  rates,  and  is  on  the 
whole  the  most  satisfactory  way  of  running  the  liquor 
traffic  that  has  yet  been  invented.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  system  should  find  ardent  advocates 
who  think  it  would  effect  a  revolution  in  Great 
Britain,  and  equally  ardent  opponents  who  believe 
that  it  would  make  the  liquor  traffic  too  popular  and 
so  stand  in  the  way  of  eventual  suppression.  The 
former  prove  that  it  has  turned  the  most  drunken 
into  the  most  sober  of  countries,  the  latter  that  it 


\ 


240       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

has  been  worse  than  a  failure.    For  my  part  I  can 
accept  neither  of  these  views. 

There  are  two  ways  of  studying  the  question.  One 
is  to  deal  historically  and  statistically  with  the  whole 
country,  the  other  to  take  a  typical  town  and  care- 
fully examine  the  actual  conditions.  Numerous 
writers  have  taken  the  first  way  and  some  have 
done  the  thing  very  thoroughly.  Their  labours 
leave  me  free  to  adopt  the  second,  which  is  more  in 
keeping  with  the  plan  of  this  book  and  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  study  by  observation  urged  at  the  beginning. 
It  is  also,  perhaps,  less  tedious  and  may  help  the 
reader  to  realise  the  Scandinavian  practice  and  to 
compare  it  with  our  own  more  clearly  than  a  gen- 
eral survey.  At  any  rate  it  may  serve  as  a  comple- 
mentary study. 

The  town  I  choose  as  the  most  instructive  example 
is  Gothenburg.  I  do  so  partly  because  it  strongly 
resembles  many  English  and  Scotch  towns  and  is 
therefore  a  good  basis  of  comparison,  but  chiefly  be- 
cause it  has  had  the  longest  and  most  equable  experi- 
ence of  the  system.  The  fact  that  the  profits  go  to 
the  municipality  and  not  to  philanthropic  objects — 
the  plan  I  have  admitted  to  be  the  better  of  the  two 
— is  no  objection  to  the  choice  of  Gothenburg,  because 
the  system  has  been  admirably  administered  there 
and  has  not  been  tainted  by  those  infiuences  which 
have  brought  reproach  upon  the  Swedish  plan  in 
some  other  towns. 

Gothenburg  is  a  seaport  and  manufacturing  town, 
containing   at   the   present   time   about   130,000   in- 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  241 

habitants.  On  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays  the  popu- 
lation is  swollen  by  a  large  influx  of  country  people, 
who  come  to  market,  and  it  is  important  to  remem- 
ber that  these  buy  all  their  strong  liquor  in  the 
town,  as  none  whatever  is  sold  in  the  surrounding 
country  districts.  In  several  respects  Gothenburg 
strongly  resembles  Cardiff,  not  in  appearance,  but 
socially  and  economically.  As  the  largest  port  in 
Scandinavia  and  the  chief  business  centre  of  Sweden, 
it  is  a  prosperous,  intelligent,  and  go-ahead  commu- 
nity, consisting  of  a  large  industrial  class  in  receipt 
of  good  wages,  and  a  numerous  middle  class  rising 
from  well-to-do  to  wealthy.  The  signs  of  prosperity 
and  intelligence  abound.  The  principal  streets  are 
broad  and  well  kept,  the  smaller  ones  narrow  and 
in  dull  weather  dark  and  dingy,  but  nowhere 
seriously  squalid.  Electric  light,  telephones,  and 
other  modern  appliances  exist  in  profusion  and  in 
the  most  modern  forms.  Popular  education  is 
brought  probably  to  a  higher  pitch  than  in  any 
other  country,  and  the  healthy,  well-kept  appearance 
of  the  board  school  children  indicates  a  high  standard 
of  home  comfort.  I  have  seen  no  beggars  and  only 
one  tramp.  Workmen's  wages  vary  from  I65.  to 
27s.  a  week,  but  money  goes  a  good  deal  further  in 
Sweden  than  with  us.  The  chief  industries  are 
those  connected  with  the  shipping.  There  are  no 
docks,  but  vessels  up  to  2,000  tons  burden  ascend 
the  river  Gotha,  on  which  the  town  is  situated, 
and  lie  at  the  open  quays  that  extend  along  the 
river    front   'for    a    mile    or    more,    so    that    men 


242       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

engaged  at  work  on  the  waterside  have  only  to  step 
across  the  quay  to  reach  the  public-house.  These 
observations  will,  perhaps,  sufficiently  indicate  the 
local  conditions,  which  must  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration in  forming  an  intelligent  opinion  upon  the 
liquor  question. 

The  alcoholic  needs  of  this  town,  with  its  150,000 
inhabitants  (including  the  rural  contingent),  are 
supplied  by  about  850  establishments  which  sell 
liquor  of  one  sort  or  another — that  is,  beer,  wine, 
or  spirits.  The  exact  number  is  not  known;  it  may 
be  rather  less  or  possibly  a  few  more,  but  at  any 
rate  it  is  over  800.  Any  one  acquainted  with  licensing 
in  England,  and  perhaps  some  others,  will  be 
amazed  at  this  fact;  so  let  me  hasten  to  say  that  it 
rests  on  the  unimpeachable  authority  of  the  Chief 
Constable  of  Gothenburg,  who  gave  me  the  figures. 
I  will  explain  them  in  a  moment,  but  will  first 
observe  that  the  remarkable  profusion  of  liquor 
shops  which  they  indicate  is  not  part  of  *  the 
Gothenburg  system.'  On  the  contrary,  I  have  chosen 
this  way  of  putting  it  in  order  to  bring  home  to 
English  readers  in  the  most  forcible  manner  the 
existing  limitations  of  the  system.  Out  of  a  total 
of  between  800  and  900  establishments,  selling  liquor 
for  consumption  on  or  off  the  premises,  only  69  are 
under  the  operation  of  the  system;  the  remaining 
780  or  so  fall  altogether  outside  it.  They  sell  only 
beer  and  wine,  about  200  of  them  being  public-houses 
licensed  for  consumption  on  the  premises,  and  the 
rest  merely  shops  where  bottled  beer  is  sold  without 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  243 

any  license.  In  Gothenburg  any  shop  may  sell  bot- 
tled beer,  and  nearly  600  actually  do  so.  The  69 
establishments  that  come  under  the  system  sell  spirits 
— that  is,  liquor  containing  over  25  per  cent,  of 
alcohol — as  well  as  beer ;  but  for  the  sake  of  accuracy 
five  more  places,  having  special  privileges,  should  be 
added,  making  a  total  of  74  spirit-houses,  against  780 
purely  beer-houses.  This  simple  numerical  state- 
ment places  the  relation  between  the  two  great 
branches  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  clearest  light,  and 
shows  the  profound  difference  that  exists  between  the 
conditions  in  Sweden  and  in  England.  In  face  of  the 
facts,  it  is  obviously  in  the  highest  degree  disingenu- 
ous to  speak  of  the  *  complete  success  '  or  *  total 
failure  *  of  the  Scandinavian  system  as  a  method  of 
dealing  with  the  drink  question.  There  cannot  be 
anything  complete  or  total  about  it  either  way,  for 
it  has  hitherto  only  attempted  to  deal  with  part 
of  the  question,  the  most  important  part  from 
their  point  of  view,  but  the  least  important  from 
ours. 

To  these  points,  however,  we  shall  return  later 
on,  after  dealing  with  the  actual  conduct  of  the  public- 
houses,  and  the  manner  in  which  drinking  is  carried 
on.  Let  us  first  take  that  part  of  it  which  is  con- 
trolled by  the  system  and  see  how  it  works  in  prac- 
tice. The  object  is  to  regulate  the  spirit  traffic, 
more  particularly  as  it  affects  the  working  classes,  so 
as  to  prevent  its  worst  abuses  without  undue  inter- 
ference with  individual  liberty.  For  this  purpose 
the  spirit  licenses   granted  by   the   local   authority 


/ 


244      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

are  not  handed  over  to  private  individuals,  but  to 
a  limited  liability  company,  managed  by  a  board  of 
five  directors,  who  are  all  men  of  standing  in  the 
town,  and  receive  a  merely  nominal  remuneration 
for  their  services.  The  essence  of  the  plan  is  the 
elimination  of  personal  gain  in  the  conduct  of  the 
trade,  and  accordingly  all  the  profits  are  applied  to 
public  purposes  after  the  company  has  received  6 
per  cent,  interest  on  the  paid-up  capital,  which  is  a 
very  small  sum.  Seven-tenths  of  the  remaining 
profits  are  paid  into  the  town  chest,  and  the  rest 
divided  between  the  Crown  and  the  district  agri- 
cultural society.  This  is  *  the  Gothenburg  system  * 
in  brief.  It  means  the  disinterested  control  of  the 
spirit  traffic,  not  by  the  municipality  or  the  State, 
but  by  a  company,  to  whom  the  monopoly  is  granted 
on  condition  that  they  exercise  it  for  the  public  wel- 
fare. The  Swedish  word  for  company  is  bolag  (pro- 
nounced pretty  nearly  *  boulog  ^),  and  as  this  has  a 
distinctive  sound  to  English  ears,  it  is  a  good  one 
to  use.  In  Gothenburg  no  one  speaks  of  the  *  sys- 
tem '  but  of  thjB  *  Bolag.'  The  administration  of  the 
Bolag,  then,  is  as  follows :  it  uses,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  69  spirit  licenses,  of  which  23  are  sublet  to 
spirit  merchants  for  retail  trade.  But  it  is  a  mis- 
take to  say  that  the  Bolag  loses  control  of  this  part 
of  the  traffic,  for  it  imposes  on  the  licensee  such 
conditions  as  seem  calculated  to  further  the  general 
object,  and  can  withdraw  the  license  if  they  are 
not  fulfilled.  The  merchants,  for  instance,  are  only 
allowed  to  sell  *  superior  spirits,'  and  at  a  certain 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  245 

fixed  minimum  price — namely,  Is.  lOd.  the  litre — in 
order  to  keep  this  traffic  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
poorer  classes;  but  I  shall  refer  to  this  point  again 
in  the  proper  place.  Further,  17  licenses  are  granted 
to  hotels  and  restaurants  not  frequented  by  working 
men,  and  therefore  not  considered  to  come  strictly 
within  the  scope  of  the  system.  This  disposes  of 
40  out  of  69.  There  remain  29  directly  administered 
by  the  Bolag  itself,  and  these  constitute  the  heart  of 
the  Gothenburg  system  in  operation.  They  are 
thus  divided :  18  public-houses  with  bars,  7  shops  sell- 
ing only  for  consumption  off  the  premises,  and  4 
eating-houses  at  which  liquor  is  served  only  with 
meals.  I  have  been  into  most  of  them  at  different 
times  in  the  day,  and  will  endeavour  to  take  the  reader 
into  one  or  two,  so  that  he  may  compare  them  with 
our  native  gin-palaces,  as  some  people  are  pleased 
to  call  them. 

The  Bolag  public-house  has  an  unpretentious  exte- 
rior both  by  day  and  night.  You  would  pass  it  by 
as  a  private  house  if  you  did  not  happen  to  notice 
the  particularly  rough-looking  men  who  are  tum- 
bling in  and  out  more  or  less  at  all  hours  from  9 
A.M.  to  7  or  8  P.M.  Only  a  black  signboard  above 
the  door,  with  the  company's  name  written  in  small 
gold  letters,  reveals  its  character.  It  is  situated  in 
a  frequented  thoroughfare  or  open  place  in  accord- 
ance with  a  provision  of  the  Swedish  law,  designed 
to  subject  all  such  establishments  to  the  wholesome 
influence  of  publicity  and  to  prevent  hole-and-corner 
iniquities.     On  opening  a  door  you  step  into  a  per- 


246       DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

fectly  plain  but  roomy  saloon,  light,  airy,  and  well 
kept.     The  sawdusted  floor  is  clean,  for  the  habit 

/  of  promiscuous  spitting,  which  has  developed  into  a 
public  curse  in  London,  is  not  practised  in  Sweden. 
Round  three  sides  of  the  room  little  square  tables, 
at  which  two,  or  at  most  three,  men  can  sit,  are 
ranged  against  the  wall.  In  the  middle  of  the 
day,  or  after  6  p.m.,  all  these  will  be  occupied,  at 
other  times  only  a  few  of  them.  A  door  at  one 
end  opens  into  a  smaller  apartment  labelled  *  eating- 
room  *  and  similarly  furnished.  The  bar  is  a  low 
counter  some  15  feet  or  18  feet  long,  standing 
out  towards  the  centre  of  the  large  room  and  open 
at  both  ends.  On  the  wall  behind  it  there  is  a  row 
of  shelves,  on  which  bottles  of  the  so-called  *  supe- 
rior '  spirits  are  arrayed,  proclaiming  themselves 
to  be  *  cognac,*  &c.,  with  the  usual  effrontery.  A 
large  spirit  cask  and  three  or  four  small  ones, 
marked  G.U.,  stand  at  the  side.  The  bar  counter 
is  covered  with  zinc,  and  two  metal  trays,  each  with 
a  small  square  decanter  and  a  few  dozen  spirit 
glasses,  stand  upon  it,  together  with  a  little  bowl 
or  saucer  containing  fragments  of  the  black  aniseed 
biscuit  universally  eaten  as  an  appetiser  in  Sweden. 
Otherwise  there  is  nothing  on  the  bar.  A  bill  of 
fare  for  the  day  hangs  on  the  wall  and  conceals 
a  printed  placard  setting  forth  the  exact  pecuniary 

^  advantages  which  accrue  from  the  renunciation  of 
a  glass  of  spirits. 

Let  us  say  it  is  between  5  and  6  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  the  hour  before  the  bar-sale  closes,  and  a 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  247 

Friday.  A  throng  of  men,  not  one  whit  less  rough- 
looking  than  our  own  lowest  class  of  labourers,  comes 
and  goes  with  astonishing  rapidity.  It  is  difficult  to 
reconcile  the  appearance  of  these  men  with  that  of 
the  children  up  at  the  school.  They  press  up  to 
the  bar,  order  and  swallow  at  a  single  gulp  a  glass 
of  neat  spirits,  pay  for  it  and  go.  At  one  minute 
there  are  two  dozen  thronging  at  the  little  counter, 
the  next  they  are  gone,  only  to  be  replaced  in  a  few 
moments  by  another  lot.  Some  order  two  glasses  and 
drink  them  immediately  one  after  the  other  in  two 
successive  gulps.  It  is  all  drunk  neat,  no  one  takes 
any  water,  there  is  none  to  be  seen  on  the  premises. 
The  barkeeper  and  an  assistant  are  kept  so  busy 
filling  glasses  and  refilling  decanters  at  each  end  of 
the  bar  that  they  have  no  time  to  look  at  the  customers 
and  notice  their  condition.  If  you  try  to  count  the 
glasses  sold  it  is  impossible,  but,  so  far  as  you  can 
calculate,  they  are  disappearing  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
a  minute.  The  glasses  are  peculiar,  shaped  like  a 
medicine  glass,  and  holding  exactly  five  centilitres, 
or  IJ  oz.  Thus  some  of  these  men  swallow  in  about 
15  seconds  3^  oz.,  or  nearly  half-a-tumbler,  of  neat 
spirits  containing  44  per  cent,  of  alcohol.  The 
spirit  is  branvin,  commonly,  but  most  erroneously, 
called  brandy,  to  which  it  has  no  resemblance.  It  is 
a  *  plain  '  spirit,  quite  colourless,  made  in  patent  stills, 
chiefly  from  potatoes,  and  highly  rectified.  Chemi- 
cally, it  is  a  pure  spirit,  which  means  that  it  consists 
almost  entirely  of  ethylic  alcohol,  but  the  man  who 
will  pronounce  it  wholesome  is  either  very  bold  or 


248      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

possessed  of  private  physiological  knowledge.  If  it 
is  wholesome,  then  the  much-abused  *  cheap  and 
fiery  '  spirit  of  the  British  publican  is  also  whole- 
some, for  the  cheap  '  whisky  '  of  the  ordinary  public- 
house  is  just  branvin  with  a  little  colouring  matter. 
The  chief  difference  is  the  price ;  the  Bolag  glass  costs 
a  fraction  over  Id.,  and  contains  fully  twice  as 
much  as  they  give  you  in  England  for  3d.,  or  some- 
times 4d. 

Such  is  the  liquor  and  such  the  manner  of  drink- 
ing in  Gothenburg  under  the  Bolag.  But  lest  any 
one  should  suppose  that  this  is  meant  as  a  reproach, 
let  me  add  that  the  scene  just  described,  giving  as 
it  does  a  glimpse  of  the  immeasurable  capacity  of 
the  Swede  for  swallowing  spirits,  is  the  most  con- 
vincing proof  that  I  have  met  with  of  the  absolute 
necessity  of  the  system.  What  would  go  on  with- 
out the  control  of  the  Bolag  is  *  a  thing  imagination 
boggles  at.'  Nor  do  I  wish  to  imply  that  drinking 
proceeds  on  the  same  heroic  scale  all  day  long,  or 
even  at  the  busiest  hours  every  day  in  the  week. 
But  it  does  go  on.  I  have  described  what  I  have 
seen,  and  the  occasion  was  not  selected.  When  the 
bars  are  opened  in  the  morning  the  men  rush  in  and 
drink  neat  spirit  or  porter  and  spirit  together.  Be- 
sides the  bar  trade,  which  is  conducted  without  loiter- 
ing, a  certain  number  of  men  are  seen  sitting  at  the 
little  tables,  some  with  a  plate  of  food  before  them, 
others  with  (empty)  spirit  glasses.  I  have  seen  three 
men  with  seven  glasses  on  the  table  before  them. 
At  meal  times  food  is  served  in  considerable  quan- 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  249 

titles.  It  is  both  cheap  and  good  and  appears  to  be 
appreciated.  A  day's  bill  of  fare  is  as  follows: 
Roast  meat  and  potatoes,  3Jd.;  meat  balls  and 
potatoes,  2}d.;  salt  fish  and  potatoes,  2d.;  porridge, 
IJd.  Beer  is  also  served  in  these  houses,  but  not 
in  large  quantities.  They  open  at  9  a.m.  and  close  at 
6  P.M.  in  winter  and  7  p.m.  in  summer,  so  far  as  the 
bar  trade  is  concerned,  remaining  open  until  8  p.m. 
for  the  sale  of  liquor  only  with  food.  No  women  or 
children  are  ever  seen  in  them.  The  managers,  who 
are  tidy  and  respectable-looking  men,  though  not 
more  so  than  a  vast  number  of  English  publicans, 
are  engaged  under  strict  conditions  defined  by  con- 
tract, and  may  be  dismissed  at  two  months'  notice. 
They  receive  a  salary  varying  from  601.  to  300^  a 
year,  according  to  the  size  of  the  house  and  the  num- 
ber of  assistants  kept.  In  addition,  they  make  what 
they  can  out  of  the  sale  of  food  and  non-alcoholic 
drinks.  They  have  no  interest  in  the  sale  of  spirits, 
beer,  or  wine,  and  are  forbidden  to  sell  these  to 
customers  already  intoxicated  or  under  eighteen 
years  of  age.  In  addition  they  must  sell  for  cash 
only,  and  may  not  serve  the  same  person  with  several 
glasses  in  succession. 

So  much  for  the  eighteen  *  dram-shops  '  run  by 
the  Bolag.  Their  other  establishments  may  be 
briefly  dismissed.  The  eating-houses,  which  are 
four  in  number,  do  not  differ  from  the  foregoing  in 
appearance,  except  that  there  is  no  bar  trade. 
Spirits  are  only  served  with  meals,  and  on  this  head 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  a  glass  or  two  of  branvin 


250      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

before  meals  is  the  universal  custom  throughout 
Sweden  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  class.  These 
houses  are  well  kept,  the  kitchens  clean  and  spacious, 
the  food  good.  A  real  trade  in  eatables  is  done,  but 
it  is  carried  on  at  a  loss  which  falls  on  the  Bolag, 
and  is  made  good  out  of  the  profits  derived  from 
their  other  business.  Finally,  we  have  the  seven 
retail  shops  where  cheap  spirit  is  sold  for  consump- 
tion off  the  premises.  They  are  kept  in  the  same 
style  as  the  others,  but  are  naturally  smaller  and 
less  comfortable.  They  contain  nothing  but  a 
counter  and  the  usual  casks.  Business  is  conducted 
very  promptly  and  without  loitering.  The  customers 
include  both  the  labouring  and  the  better  classes, 
and  they  buy  chiefly  branvin.  It  is  sold  in  quantities 
of  not  less  than  one  litre,  or  Ij  pint,  which  is 
equivalent  to  about  a  bottle  and  a  half  of  our 
standard,  and  costs  15d.  The  spirit  is  drawn  from 
the  cask  in  a  measure  and  poured  into  a  large 
bottle  which  holds  just  a  litre,  and  the  customer 
walks  off  with  it.  I  have  seen  numbers  of  men  and 
women  of  the  labouring  class  buy  these  bottles  on  a 
Saturday.  When  you  come  to  think  of  it,  fifteen- 
pence  is  easily  forthcoming  on  pay-day,  and  a 
bottle  and  a  half  of  whisky  contains  the  promise  of 
a  very  fair  carouse.  A  jolly  Sunday  is  cheap  in 
Gothenburg. 

A  few  words  will  suffice  for  the  rest  of  the  liquor 
traffic  lying  outside  the  influence  of  the  system. 
The  beer-houses  licensed  for  consumption  on  the 
premises   are   very   thick   on   the    ground   in   some 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  251 

streets  and  easily  recognised  from  the  outside,  though 
hardly  conspicuous.  A  good  many  are  situated 
in  basements.  Inside  they  are  arranged  very  much 
like  the  Bolag  houses,  but  are  for  the  most  part 
smaller  and  less  tidy.  Drinking  is  carried  on  at 
the  bar,  but  more  at  the  little  tables,  in  a  leisurely 
fashion.  The  price  of  beer  comes  to  much  the  same 
as  in  England,  but  grade  for  grade  it  is  weaker. 
The  cheapest  quality,  costing  Jd.  a  small  glass,  is 
a  very  watery  liquid;  the  strongest  is  Carnegie's 
porter,  which  contains  about  8  per  cent,  of  alcohol, 
and  costs  S^d.  a.  bottle.  Most  of  the  bottled  beers, 
of  which  there  are  several  kinds,  contain  about  6 
per  cent,  or  7  per  cent,  of  alcohol.  The  *  wines  ' 
sold  here  are  manufactured  articles,  compounded 
of  spirit  and  sugar,  with  a  little  colouring  and  fla- 
vouring matter.  They  are  very  cheap,  and  contain 
from  15  per  cent,  to  18  per  cent,  of  alcohol.  All 
these  houses  are  under  the  surveillance  and  control 
of  the  police  just  as  with  us,  and  none  of  them  are 
*  tied.*  They  close  at  8  p.m.  In  conclusion,  the  only 
thing  that  need  be  said  about  the  retail  trade  in 
bottled  beer  is  that  it  pervades  the  entire  town,  and 
is  subject  to  no  control  whatever. 

Such  is  the  system  in  actual  working.  What  are 
its  effects?  Before  proceeding  to  describe  them  I 
would  remind  the  reader  that  the  Bolag  unquestion- 
ably discharges  its  trust  with  great  faithfulness  and 
ability.  It  would  be  impossible  to  find  in  any  mu- 
nicipal or  other  public  body  a  more  competent  and 
disinterested  set  of  men  than  the  board  of  directors. 


252      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

Whatever  can  be  done  to  regulate  the  spirit 
traffic  by  this  means  has  been  done  in  Gothenburg. 
And  I  would  also  remind  him  that  the  Bolag  entered 
into  a  terribly  neglected  heritage.  All  accounts  agree 
that  the  spirit-shops  were  abominably  conducted  and 
the  home  of  every  kind  of  abuse.  From  the  exceed- 
ingly lax  manner  in  which  the  beer-houses  are  car- 
ried on  still,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  in  pre-Bolag  days 
a  state  of  things  existed  which  once  prevailed  here, 
but  so  long  ago  that  it  has  been  forgotten. 

Let  us  first  enumerate  the  principal  directions  in 
which  its  activity  has  been  exercised,  once  more  re- 
minding the  reader  that  the  consumption  of  spirits 
alone  is  concerned.  It  has  (1)  reduced  the  number 
of  public-houses;  (2)  improved  their  condition  and 
conduct;  (3)  shortened  the  hours  of  sale;  (4)  stopped 
public-house  drinking  by  persons  under  eighteen 
years  of  age;  (5)  raised  the  price  and  lowered  the 
strength  of  cheap  spirits;  (6)  insured  a  standard 
quality  and  measure;  (7)  stopped  drinking  on  credit; 
(8)  provided  good  food  in  the  public-houses;  (9) 
eliminated  the  element  of  personal  gain  behind  the 
bar,  and  abolished  competition.  I  do  not  think  any 
of  these  statements  are  open  to  contradiction  or  even 
to  serious  criticism,  though  of  course  there  is  a  good 
deal  to  be  said  about  the  precise  value  of  the  va- 
rious measures  enumerated.  Some  of  them  sound 
more  important  than  they  are  in  reality,  but  to 
examine  them  closely  would  be  beside  my  immediate 
purpose,  which  is  to  state  rather  than  to  weigh  the 
changes  effected  by  the  Bolag  in  the  direction  of 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM 


253 


reform.  I  have  not  included  among  them  the  refusal 
of  liquor  to  persons  already  intoxicated,  for,  though 
this  is  strictly  enjoined  on  public-house  managers, 
and  doubtless  with  considerable  effect,  it  is,  never- 
theless, not  strictly  carried  out,  as  Dr.  Wieselgren 
admits  and  as  I  have  myself  noticed.  One  cannot 
say,  therefore,  that  the  practice  of  serving  intoxi- 
cated persons  has  been  stopped  by  the  Bolag,  though 
it  has  been  diminished.  To  proceed,  however,  to 
the  main  question,  what  effect  have  the  foregoing 
reforms  had  on  the  consumption  of  liquor,  the  preva- 
lence of  drunkenness,  and  the  well-being  of  the  work- 
ing classes?  For  the  sake  of  clearness  we  will  take 
these  questions  in  order. 

With  regard  to  the  consumption  of  liquor,  it  is 
necessary  to  have  recourse  to  the  following  well-worn 
table  of  statistics.  They  begin  with  1875,  because 
that  is  the  first  year  in  which  the  Bolag  obtained 
control  of  all  the  spirit  licenses: 


Year 

Consumption  per  head 
Litres 

j^    Year 

Consumption  per  head 
^    LltVe. 

1875 

27.4 

1888 

16.7 

1876 

28.4 

1889 

16.1 

1877 

26.9 

1890 

15.9 

1878 

24.8 

1891 

14.8 

1879 

21.9 

1892 

13.5 

1880 

20.2 

1893 

13.2 

1881 

19.1 

1894 

13.0 

1882 

17.7 

1895 

13.1 

1883 

18.1 

1896 

13.2 

1884 

18.2 

1897 

13.6 

1885 

18.0 

1898 

14.5 

1886 

17.8 

1899 

16.0 

1887 

16.9 

/ 

254      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

In  considering  this  table  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  consumption  per  head  is  reckoned 
on  the  population  of  Gothenburg,  but  inasmuch  as 
the  whole  rural  population  for  many  miles  around 
buys  its  spirits  in  the  town,  the  consumption  should 
really  be  distributed  over  a  much  larger  number  of 
persons — about  half  as  many  again,  so  far  as  the 
best  judges  could  estimate  it.  Consequently  the 
true  consumption  per  head  should  be  about  two- 
thirds  of  that  indicated.  The  correction,  however, 
does  not  affect  the  comparison  of  one  year  with 
another.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  large  and  steadily 
progressive  diminution  took  place  for  twenty  years. 
Since  1894  there  has  been  some  recovery,  but  the 
amount  is  still  far  below  the  earlier  figures.  The 
steady  character  of  the  fall  shows  that  it  was  not 
due  to  fluctuations  in  the  state  of  trade  or  to  scarcity 
of  wages,  which  affect  consumption  in  Sweden  not 
less  than  they  do  here.  On  the  contrary,  it  went  on  in 
spite  of  such  fluctuations,  and  it  cannot  be  attributed 
to  any  cause  but  the  operations  of  the  Bolag.  The 
facts  are  clear  and  instructive.  They  afford  statistical 
evidence  both  of  the  efficacy  of  the  system  and  of 
its  limitations. 

When  we  turn  to  the  question  of  drunkenness  we 
find  the  limitations  very  much  more  strongly  marked 
than  the  efficacy.  Gothenburg  is  a  very  drunken 
place.  Personal  observation,  the  opinion  of  residents, 
police  and  medical  evidence,  all  point  to  the  same 
conclusion.  I  have  seen  more  drunkenness  in  a  Scotch 
town  on  Saturday  night,  but  never  in  an   English 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM 


255 


one.  In  the  course  of  an  hour's  stroll  through  the 
streets,  large  and  small,  between  7  and  8  p.m.  I  have 
counted  twelve  drunken  men,  and  never  went  out 
in  the  evening  without  seeing  some,  though  the 
streets  are  not  thronged  with  people  at  that  time 
as  in  England,  but  curiously  empty.  I  have  seen 
working  men  half  drunk  in  the  streets  at  midday 
and  met  them  staggering  home  at  11  p.m.,  hours  after 
every  bar  was  closed.  I  took  the  greatest  pains  to 
correct  my  observations  on  this  head,  and  in  order 
to  do  so  I  stayed  so  long  in  Gothenburg  that  my 
friends  there  could  not  understand  what  I  was  doing, 
as  no  one  who  had  come  to  study  the  system  had 
stopped  there  half  the  time.  I  was  checking  my 
impressions,  and  the  longer  I  stayed  the  worse  they 
grew.     I  began  by  thinking  it  a  drunken  place;  I 


Number  of  persons  fined  for  drunkenness  per  1,000 


Year 

Persons  per  1,000 

Year 

Persons  per  1,000 

1865  .. 

46 

1882  .. 

29 

1866  . . 

30 

1883  .. 

30 

1867  .. 

29 

1884  . . 

29 

1868  .. 

26 

1885  . . 

29 

1869  .. 

28 

1886  . . 

31 

1870  . . 

26 

1887  .. 

32 

1871  .. 

28 

1888  .. 

31 

1872  . . 

28 

1889  .. 

34 

1873  . . 

32 

1890  . . 

40 

1874  . . 

38 

1891  .. 

44 

1876  . . 

42 

1892  .. 

42 

1876  . . 

39 

1893  . . 

37 

1877  .. 

40 

1894  . . 

33 

1878  . . 

32 

1895  . . 

31 

1879  .. 

31 

1896  .. 

35 

1880  . . 

31 

1897  .. 

44 

1881  .. 

32 

I     1898  .. 

67 

256      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

ended  by  thinking  it  one  of  the  most  drunken  places 
I  ever  saw.  That  impression  is  fully  corroborated  by 
the  police  statistics  given  on  the  previous  page. 

For  the  sake  of  comparison  I  will  add  a  few  corre- 
sponding figures  for  1898: — England,  7;  Newcastle 
(the  most  drunken  town  in  England),  17;  Scotland, 
26;  Ireland,  19;  Glasgow,  57.  That  is  to  say,  the 
police  drunkenness  of  Gothenburg  is  about  eight  times 
the  average  for  England,  thrice  that  of  the  most 
drunken  town  in  England,  double  the  average  of 
Scotland,  and  equal  to  that  of  Glasgow.  Of  course 
it  is  argued  that  these  comparisons  are  fallacious. 
I  have  already  said  something  about  that  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  and  I  have  something  more  to  say  about 
it  later  on.  My  own  opinion  is  that  they  reflect  the 
relative  state  of  things  with  remarkable  accuracy. 

But,  however  defective  police  statistics  may  be 
for  comparison  between  different  towns  and  countries, 
this  table  holds  good  for  comparing  one  year  with 
another  in  Gothenburg  itself.  The  law  has  been 
the  same  as  to  arrests  ever  since  the  system  was 
started,  and  it  has  been  administered  in  the  same 
spirit  by  the  same  men.  There  has  been  no  *  turn 
of  the  screw  *  either  way,  and  consequently  the 
returns  give  us  a  trustworthy  bird*s-eye  view  of 
the  amount  of  drunkenness  from  year  to  year.  At 
first  there  was  a  marked  and  rapid  fall,  and  the 
improvement  continued  fairly  steady  until  the  pros- 
perous period  of  the  seventies,  when  the  numbers 
rose  again  nearly  to  their  old  level  relatively  to  the 
population.    Then  they  gradually  fell  again,  reaching 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  257 

a  second  low-water  mark  in  1882,  after  which  they 
once  more  rose,  slowly  at  first,  but  then  rapidly, 
until  in  1891  they  stood  as  high  as  in  1865.  All 
the  good  effected  by  the  system  in  respect  to 
drunkenness  had  vanished.  Then  followed  another 
fall,  to  be  succeeded  by  a  much  greater  rise.  The 
last  state  is  far  worse  than  the  first.  I  might  give 
some  further  statistics  from  the  (General  Hospital, 
which  also  go  to  prove  that  drunkenness  has  been 
increasing,  but  it  is  unnecessary.  Nobody  in  Sweden 
denies  the  fact  for  a  moment.  Dr.  Wieselgren  has 
repeatedly  admitted  it  in  the  most  straightforward 
manner,  and  indeed  it  is  so  fully  recognised  as  to 
have  become  the  lever  of  a  new  movement.  The 
revival  of  drunkenness  is  generally,  and  no  doubt 
correctly,  attributed  to  the  increasing  use  of  beer.  \  i 
The  Swedes,  like  the  Scotch  and  the  Russians,  are 
naturally  spirit-drinkers,  but  under  the  restrictions 
imposed  on  the  spirit  traffic  they  have  gradually  de- 
veloped a  taste  for  beer.  According  to  the  official 
returns,  the  annual  consumption  per  head  for  the 
whole  country  increased  pretty  steadily  from  11.1 
litres  in  1861-65  to  45  litres  in  1897 ;  but  the  figures 
are  not  reliable,  and  the  exact  increase  cannot  be 
stated.  It  is,  however,  certainly  very  great.  In 
Gothenburg  it  is  believed  that  after  the  spirit  bars 
are  closed  drinkers  betake  themselves  to  the  beer- 
houses, where  they  are  served  for  an  hour  or  two 
later,  and  I  can  corroborate  the  statement.  I  have 
seen  men  come  already  drunk  into  a  beer-house 
after  6  o'clock — the  closing  time  for  spirits — and  get 


258      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

beer.  But  there  is  also  a  great  deal  of  home  drinking, 
which  is  proved  by  the  increasing  prevalence  of 
drunkenness  among  women  and  children.  This  is 
the  most  deplorable  feature  of  the  present  situation, 
and  it  conveys  a  serious  warning  to  enthusiastic  but 
short-sighted  reformers  who  see  only  the  evil  before 
their  faces  and,  in  trying  to  evade  it,  run  into  others, 
and  perhaps  worse  ones.  Formerly  drunkenness  was 
practically  unknown  among  women,  and  only  two 
or  three  cases  would  appear  in  the  police-courts  in 
a  year;  but  for  some  time  a  marked  increase  has 
taken  place,  and  in  1893  144  were  fined  for  this 
offence,  some  of  them  several  times,  making  a  total 
of  201  convictions.  The  observations  at  the  hospital 
corroborate  this  fact,  and  Dr.  Koster,  the  chief  physi- 
cian, informed  me  that  porter  is  the  form  of  alcohol 
principally  affected  by  the  women.  I  also  understand 
that  the  school  teachers  complain  seriously  of  a  grow- 
ing tendency  to  drink  among  young  lads.  It  is  clear 
that  the  restrictions  imposed  on  spirits  and  public- 
houses  have  driven  the  people  to  beer  and  home  drink- 
ing, and  that  in  this  way  the  women  and  children 
have  caught  the  infection. 

The  reader  can  now  understand  how  it  is  that 
the  Gothenburg  system  is  called  sometimes  a  great 
success  and  sometimes  a  great  failure,  according 
to  the  taste  and  fancy  of  the  speaker.  But  there 
remains  the  third  question — to  which  an  answer 
should  be  given — ^what  effect  has  it  had  on  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  working  classes!  For  that  is, 
after  all,  the  real  and  fundamental  object  with  which 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  259 

the  system  was  started.  Without  any  doubt  it  has 
had  a  very  beneficial  effect,  and  for  a  perfectly  defi- 
nite reason.  The  substitution  of  beer  for  spirits  as 
an  intoxicating  agent  has  been  physically  very  bene- 
ficial. To  the  elect  one  kind  of  intoxication  is  prob- 
ably as  baleful  as  another,  but  to  ordinary  mortals 
it  is  not,  and  though  there  may  be  as  much  drunk- 
enness in  Gothenburg  to-day  as  there  was  in  1865, 
it  is  much  less  injurious  to  health.  The  Chief  Con- 
stable explained  to  me  that  the  drunkards  who  now 
pass  through  the  hands  of  the  police  are  not  the 
miserable,  sodden,  diseased,  and  broken-down  wretches 
that  they  used  to  be.  Physically,  he  said,  there  is 
a  great  difference,  which  he  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  they  are  better  fed,  and  so  better  able  to  resist 
the  effects  of  liquor.  The  explanation  is,  no  doubt, 
correct;  for  the  beer-drinker  is  not  affected  by  the 
same  intense  loathing  for  food  which  accompanies 
spirit  alcoholism,  and  therefore  suffers  less  in  health. 
The  truth  is  that  the  drunkenness  of  Gothenburg 
in  old  days  was  perfectly  appalling  and  only  equalled 
by  our  own  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The  law  of 
1855  did  a  great  deal  of  good,  but  it  is  clear  from 
the  1864  report  on  the  causes  of  industrial  poverty 
and  degradation  that  things  still  remained  very  bad, 
and  it  is  equally  clear  that  under  the  system  which 
was  adopted  in  consequence  of  that  report  they  have 
vastly  improved  for  the  reason  given.  The  conclu- 
sion to  be  drawn  from  the  revival  of  drunkenness 
in  Gothenburg  is  that  if  a  man  wants  to  drink  he 
will  drink,  and  if  you  make  it  difficult  for  him  in 


260      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

one  way  he  will  find  another.  That  is  the  opinion 
of  the  Chief  Constable,  who  knows  as  much  about 
the  question  as  any  man  living,  and  expressed 
himself,  if  I  remember  right,  in  those  very  words. 
He  is  a  staunch  friend  of  the  system,  but  has  too 
much  experience  of  human  nature  to  give  way  to 
any  rosewater  delusions.  Placing  the  beer  traffic 
under  the  same  control  as  the  spirits  would,  no  doubt, 
have  an  effect,  but  it  might  not  be  in  the  direction 
of  sobriety.  Already  the  thirsty  Swede  has  found 
other  means  of  evading  the  control  of  the  Bolag 
besides  the  beer-house.  There  is  *  clubbing,*  for  in- 
stance. A  gentleman,  whose  office  overlooks  an  arch- 
way not  far  from  one  of  the  Bolag 's  retail  spirit- 
shops,  told  me  that  he  often  sees  two  or  three 
working  men,  who  have  clubbed  together  for  a 
bottle  of  branvin,  repair  to  this  convenient  spot  and 
do  their  best  to  consume  the  lot  then  and  there.  An- 
other still  more  ominous  method  of  evasion  is  the 
resort  to  cheap  commercial  intoxicants.  Dr.  Koster, 
a  very  able  observer  and  also  a  friend  of  the  system, 
informed  me  that  he  has  noticed  a  tendency  to  take 
methylated  spirits  on  the  part  of  those  who  find 
it  difficult  to  obtain  branvin  under  the  present  re- 
strictions. These  observations  and  the  like  merely 
confirm  an  oft-told  tale  which  warns  us  not  to  ex- 
pect too  much  from  measures  of  reform.  There  is 
no  short  cut  to  sobriety,  whether  by  way  of  Gothen- 
burg or  any  other  place,  and,  to  do  them  justice,  the 
Swedes  generally  recognise  this.  They  only  pretend 
to  be  working  in  the  right  direction,  and  the  clearest- 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM 


261 


headed  men  among  them  indulge  in  no  extravagant 
hopes  of  the  advantages  likely  to  accrue  from  an  ex- 
tension of  their  system. 

Now,  if  it  is  difficult  to  forecast  the  results  of 
placing  the  whole  of  the  liquor  traffic  under  com- 
pany control  in  Gothenburg,  where  there  is  some 
solid  experience  to  go  upon,  how  much  more  doubt- 
ful does  the  question  become  when  we  pass  to 
England,  where  the  conditions  differ  to  an  extent 
which  can  only  be  realised  by  actual  and  careful  ob- 
servation! Speaking  generally,  we  stand  already 
upon  a  higher  plane  as  regards  sobriety.  I  have 
given  some  evidence  in  support  of  that  opinion,  and 
will  carry  it  a  little  further.  I  have  previously  com- 
pared Gothenburg  with  Cardiff  in  general  terms  as 
places  of  similar  size  and  character,  and,  as  the 
latter  is  in  many  respects  a  typical  British  industrial 
town,  a  more  detailed  comparison  may  not  be  unin- 
structive.  Cardiff  has  its  slums,  its  Irish  population, 
its  seafaring  men  of  all  nations,  and  its  contingent 
(often  a  very  rough  one)  of  visitors  from  the  sur- 
rounding districts.  No  one  can  call  it  a  show  place 
or  a  model  of  morality.  The  following  table  shows 
the  population  (estimated),  number  of  establishments 
selling  liquor,  police  force,  number  of  convictions 
for  drunkenness,  and  number  of  cases  of  illness  di- 
rectly due  to  drink  admitted  to  hospital  in  the  year 
1S93  for  Gothenburg  and  Cardiff  respectively: 


- 

Popalatlon 

Liquor- 
shops 

Police 
force 

Convictions 

Hospital 
cases 

Gothenburg 
Cardiff 

107,000 
150,0t)0 

850 
339 

211 
201 

4.066 
482 

104 
16 

262      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

I  do  not  wish  to  lay  more  weight  on  these  figures 
than  they  will  bear,  and  no  one  knows  their  weak 
points  better  than  myself,  but  I  submit  that,  when  all 
allowance  has  been  made,  they  do  go  to  show  a  marked 
superiority  in  favour  of  the  English  town  with  respect 
to  excessive  drinking.  If  the  discrepancy  between 
the  number  of  convictions  were  less,  it  might  be 
explained  away  by  a  possible  difference  of  police 
procedure,  but  it  is  too  large  for  that,  and  in  my 
opinon  there  is  really  very  little  difference  in  the 
police  procedure,  though  the  Gothenburg  force  has 
the  advantage  in  numbers.  I  know  Cardiff  well,  and 
have  kept  my  eyes  very  wide  open  with  respect  to 
this  point  in  Gothenburg,  and  the  conclusion  forced 
upon  me  is  that  the  Swedish  police  act  on  very 
much  the  same  principle  as  a  well-conducted  force 
in  our  own  country,  and  that  the  returns  fairly  repre- 
sent the  relative  amount  of  public  drunkenness  in 
the  two  places.  The  Gothenburg  constables  appear 
to  be  an  admirable  body  of  men,  of  stalwart  frame  and 
calm  demeanour,  and  they  are  fairly  in  evidence  in 
the  streets,  but  they  certainly  do  not  interfere  with 
every  tipsy  man.  The  law  under  which  they  act 
runs  to  this  effect:  *  Any  person  who  takes  strong 
drink  in  such  quantities  that  from  his  behaviour  and 
demeanour  he  appears  to  be  visibly  intoxicated  and 
is  found  in  such  state  in  a  road,  or  street,  or  other 
public  place,  will  be  punished  for  drunkenness  by  a 
fine.'  In  practice  it  corresponds  exactly  with  *  drunk 
and  incapable  ' — that  is  to  say,  it  applies  to  any  one 
who  staggers  so  as  to  be  a  definite  nuisance  to  others, 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  263 

or  who  cannot  get  along  at  all.  Disorder  is  a 
different  count,  but  Swedish  drunkards  are  much 
less  disorderly  than  English  ones,  and  consequently 
a  good  many  more  escape  the  legal  consequences  of 
excess  by  stumbling  quietly  home.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  vicarious  stability  of  a  friend's  arm  is  not 
allowed  to  exonerate  the  incapable  inebriate;  the 
constable  does  not  turn  an  indulgent  eye  on  this 
touching  spectacle,  like  his  English  colleague,  but 
marks  his  man  down  and  summons  him  next  day, 
so  that  these  two  points  may  be  set  against  each 
other.  On  the  whole,  I  have  convinced  myself  that 
if  the  two  forces  were  to  exchange  beats  there  would 
be  no  great  alteration  in  the  charge-sheet.  More- 
over the  police  returns  are  corroborated  in  a  remark- 
able way  by  the  medical  evidence.  Out  of  1,273 
admissions  to  the  Gothenburg  Hospital  there  were 
104  cases  of  chronic  or  acute  alcoholism  of  different 
kinds;  out  of  1,303  admissions  to  the  Cardiff  Infir- 
mary there  were  only  15.  The  discrepancy  should 
really  be  greater,  for  while  the  Swedish  cases  were 
all  of  well-marked  primary  alcoholic  disease,  I  have, 
in  order  to  be  on  the  right  side,  included  in  the 
Cardiff  list  some  more  doubtful  cases,  such  as 
peripheral  neuritis  and  granular  kidney.  Surely  this 
medical  evidence  would  suffice  by  itself  to  establish 
my  contention;  in  combination  with  the  rest  it  ap- 
pears to  me  as  conclusive  as  any  such  evidence  can 
possibly  be. 

But  probably  no  Englishman  who  has  had  good 
oppOTlunities  of  seeing  Swedes  drink  will  need  any 


264      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

further  proof  that  they  are  more  given  to  the  vice 
than  ourselves.  It  is  largely  a  matter  of  climate 
and  perhaps  also  of  race,  but  certainly  of  climate,  as 
I  have  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  chapter.  All  classes, 
including  ladies,  consume  alcohol  in  a  concentrated 
form  with  an  ease  which  only  habitual  topers  can 
command  under  a  warmer  or  drier  sky.  The 
moderately  drinking  Englishman,  who  begins  by 
repudiating  the  proffered  dram,  soon  finds  that  he 
can  stand  it,  and  then  grows  to  like  it.  Whether 
for  this  or  for  other  reasons,  public  opinion  sanctions 
a  greater  laxity  than  with  us,  and  that  is  reflected  in 
the  conduct  of  the  public-houses.  I  have  repeatedly 
seen  men  served  in  a  beer-shop  who  would  be  turned 
out  of  almost  any  public-house  in  London,  and  the 
difference  was  forcibly  borne  in  upon  me  on  one 
particular  occasion.  I  visited  a  music-hall  frequented, 
not  by  the  lowest  class  of  working  men,  but  by  the 
class  just  above  them  and  by  the  inferior  bourgeois. 
As  luck  would  have  it  I  sat  down  next  a  drunken 
man.  He  was  in  the  affectionate  mood,  which  is 
only  one  degree  less  trying  than  the  quarrelsome, 
and  he  gave  me  the  full  benefit  of  his  friendly 
emotions.  The  fellow  told  me  that  he  had  a  pocket- 
ful of  money,  which  accounted  for  his  high  good 
humour,  and  insisted  on  ordering  relays  of  bottled 
beer.  At  the  same  time  he  kept  up  a  tremendous 
noise,  shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice  and  repeatedly 
drawing  the  attention  of  the  whole  place.  In  an 
English  house  he  would  have  been  sternly  warned 
and  then  summarily  ejected,  but  here  the  attendant 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  265 

merely  beamed  on  him  with  a  mild  and  ineffectual 
remonstrance,  and  brought  him  more  beer.  One 
reason  why  inebriated  Swedes  receive  more  lenient 
treatment  in  public  places  may  be  that,  as  a  rule, 
they  are  far  less  given  to  violent  disorder  than 
English  blackguards  in  a  like  case.  At  any  rate, 
custom  in  Sweden  certainly  does  regard  the  failing 
with  a  more  lenient  eye. 

Now,  these  considerations  explain  both  the  neces- 
sity and  the  efficacy  of  the  Gothenburg  system  in  the 
land  of  its  birth,  but  they  add  to  the  difficulty  of 
estimating  its  chances  of  success  in  England.  In- 
deed, no  confident  opinion  can  be  formed  on  the  sub- 
ject a  posteriori;  the  evidence  from  fact  is  inade- 
quate. That  such  opinions  have  been  repeatedly 
formed  in  diametrically  opposite  senses  sufficiently 
proves  their  untrustworthiness.  Of  a  priori  opinions 
we  have,  of  course,  an  abundance,  but  they  are  not 
worth  discussing.  Perhaps,  however,  some  additional 
light  may  be  gained  from  the  Gothenburg  experience 
by  considering  for  a  moment  the  detailed  measures 
of  reform  instituted  under  the  company  system. 
Some  may  be  briefly  dismissed  as  being  either  non- 
contentious  or  unimportant.  Among  the  former  is 
the  provision  prohibiting  the  sale  of  spirits  to  young 
persons.  The  Swedish  law  fixes  the  minimum  age  at 
15,  but  the  Bolag  has  raised  it  to  18,  and  there  can 
be  no  two  honest  opinions  about  the  advantages  of 
this  measure.  The  prohibition  of  sales  on  credit  is 
another  good  move,  but  of  more  importance  in  Sweden 
than  in  urban  England,  where  public-house  credit 


266      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

is  not  a  very  common  commodity.  Supplying  a  stand- 
ard measure  and  quality  of  liquor,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  a  doubtful  value  from  the  temperance  point  of 
view,  however  admirable  in  a  commercial  sense.  It 
would  mean  with  us,  on  the  whole,  that  a  given  sum 
of  money  would  go  rather  further  towards  the  pur- 
chase of  intoxication  than  it  does  at  present,  for 
the  great  adulterant  is  water,  and  the  dishonest  glass 
errs  on  the  side  of  smallness.  Raising  the  price  and 
lowering  the  strength  sound  very  drastic  measures, 
and  no  doubt  they  might  be  made  so,  but  the  Goth- 
enburg Bolag  has  only  ventured  on  changes  so  small 
as  to  be  inappreciable.  Spirits  would  still  be  very 
cheap  if  the  price  were  doubled,  but  perhaps  there 
are  practical  objections  to  this  course.  The  ex- 
periment, however,  would  be  very  interesting,  and 
could  not  fail  to  have  a  great  effect.  Probably  it 
would  lead  to  illicit  distilling.  With  us  there  is  no 
such  margin  for  alteration.  Reduction  in  the  number 
of  public-houses  is  an  old  controversial  point,  on 
which  the  experience  of  Gothenburg  throws  no 
clear  light,  though  public  opinion  there  attaches 
considerable  importance  to  the  measure.  Altering 
the  aspect  and  arrangement  of  the  public-houses  is 
another  point  on  which  the  advocates  of  the  system 
both  in  Sweden  and  England  lay  great  stress,  but 
nothing  that  I  have  seen  has  convinced  me  that 
there  is  anything  in  it  whatever.  The  Bolag  public- 
house  is  less  showy  outside  and  more  comfortable 
inside  than  the  average  English  pothouse,  but  why 
this  should  be  supposed  to  make  for  temperance  I 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  267 

entirely  fail  to  understand,  and  I  am  perfectly 
certain  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  does  not.  If  the 
idea  is  to  turn  the  pothouse  into  a  sort  of  caje,  I  can 
understand  and  heartily  sympathise  with  the  object; 
but  the  caje  is  made  by  and  conforms  to  the  habits 
of  the  customers;  to  expect  the  reverse  to  happen 
is  to  ask  the  cart  to  pull  the  horse.  The  Bolag  public- 
house  might  very  well  be  a  ca^^  and  if  it  were  in 
France  or  Italy  it  would  be,  but  being  where  it  is 
it  remains  a  pothouse,  where  the  people  just  drink  as 
hard  as  they  are  allowed  to.  Would  not  the  same 
thing  happen  in  England?  Supplying  meals  is  an- 
other measure  intended  to  serve  the  same  end,  and 
not  much  more  effective  in  practice.  It  rests  appar- 
ently on  the  supposition  that  a  customer  does  not 
know  whether  he  wants  food  or  drink,  and  that  the 
opportunity  of  the  one  may  induce  him  to  forego  the 
other.  It  is  faithfully  carried  out  in  Gothenburg, 
but  the  bar  still  enjoys  undiminished  patronage. 

We  come  now  to  what  is  generally  considered  the 
cardinal  point  of  the  system — namely,  the  elimina- 
tion of  personal  profit  on  liquor  in  the  conduct  of 
the  public-house.  In  Gothenburg,  I  have  no  doubt, 
it  has  a  real  value;  the  Bolag  manager  is  more  par- 
ticular and  careful  than  his  extremely  lax  colleague 
the  beer-house  publican,  and  probably  the  difference 
between  him  and  his  predecessor  at  the  spirit  bar 
is  still  greater.  With  us  too  it  would  have  an  effect. 
It  would  abolish  the  badly  conducted  house  and  level 
up  the  whole  traffic  to  the  standard  of  the  best.  Un- 
doubtedly an  improvement;  but  what  it  would  rep- 


268      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

resent  in  actual  results  is  a  matter  of  opinion.  Some 
think  the  difference  would  be  enormous.  I  cannot 
I  agree  with  them.  One  thing  is  certain.  No  system 
j  will  prevent  people  getting  drunk  on  the  premises. 
The  Bolag,  with  ample  powers  and  the  best  will  in 
the  world,  certainly  does  not.  I  have  seen  a  man 
tumble  out  of  one  of  their  shops  and  go  staggering 
down  the  street;  I  have  seen  others  served  who  had 
obviously  had  too  much   already,   and,  though  not 

*  drunk  and  incapable  '  at  the  moment,  would  un- 
doubtedly be  so  within  five  minutes  of  their  getting 
outside.  And  was  not  one  of  our  model  public-houses 
convicted  of  serving  a  drunken  man  a  few  days  after 
it  was  opened?  On  the  whole,  I  should  say  a  decent 
English  publican  is  stricter  than  a  Bolag  manager, 
because  a  drunken  man  is  more  likely  to  get  him  into 
trouble  by  stopping  and  making  a  noise.     As  for 

*  pushing  the  sale, '  I  have  already  discussed  that  dear 
delusion,   and  will  merely   observe   that   the  Bolag 

\  \  manager  attends  more  promptly  to  his  customers  than 
any  English  publican  I  ever  saw.  Finally,  there  is 
the  question  of  early  closing,  and  this  appears  to 
me  by  far  the  most  important  and  efficient  difference 
between  the  English  and  the  Gothenburg  public-house. 
\  The  strongest  argument  for  the  Scandinavian  system 
^  is  that  it  is  the  easiest  and  most  complete  way  of 
controlling  the  hours.  On  this  head  it  should  be 
observed  that  the  Swedish  law  places  great  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  local  authority  apart  from  the 
system  altogether.  The  legal  hour  for  closing  is  ten, 
but  it  may  be  advanced  or  retarded  by  the  town 


THE  SCANDINAVIAN  SYSTEM  269 

authorities  at  pleasure.  Thus  in  Gothenburg  all 
public-houses  close  at  eight,  hotels  and  restaurants  at 
twelve,  while  the  Bolag  shuts  its  bars  at  six  or 
seven.  Of  course,  this  obviously  means  one  law  for 
the  rich  and  another  for  the  poor,  and  results  in 
some  curious  anomalies.  For  instance,  in  one  of 
the  Bolag  establishments  the  poor  man  on  the 
ground  floor  cannot  drink  at  the  bar  after  six  and  is 
turned  out  at  eight,  while  his  social  superior  can 
have  what  he  pleases  up  till  eleven  in  a  room  above. 
The  contrast  was  forcibly  impressed  upon  me  once 
by  a  young  gentleman  who  with  great  gravity  and  a 
glazed  eye  explained  to  me  the  advantages  of  the 
Gothenburg  system  as  well  as  a  thickened  utterance 
would  permit.  To  my  description  of  some  drunken 
men  I  had  seen  that  evening  he  replied  sympathetically 

*  Bajjob !  '  which  is  not  Swedish  but  drunkenese  for 

*  Bad  job !  '  I  left  him  at  11,30  p.m.  still  opening  fresh 
bottles  in  the  restaurant  of  an  hotel  which  is  nominally 
under  the  control  of  the  Bolag.  The  docile  and  sub- 
missive Swedish  working  man  does  not  kick  against 
the  invidious  distinction,  but  how  wouJd  the  free-bom 
Briton  take  it?  However,  so  great  a  discrepancy 
would  not  be  necessary.  Bars  might  very  well  be 
closed  an  hour  earlier  than  restaurants  and  hotels 
without  exciting  class  prejudices.  Of  course  this  could 
also  be  done  by  statutory  legislation,  but  the  pros- 
pect is  not  very  promising.  Under  the  company  sys- 
tem it  would  be  a  matter  of  course. 

It  only  remains  to  add  that  the  lessons  derived 
from  other  considerable  towns  in  Sweden  and  Norway 


270      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

» 
are  substantially  the  same.    The  profits  of  the  traffic 

are  somewhat  differently  distributed,  a  much  larger 
share  going  to  the  State  in  Norway,  but  the  net 
results  may  be  summarised  as  general  improvement 
in  the  traffic,  diminished  consumption  of  spirits,  and 
a  large  amount  of  drunkenness  with  a  tendency  to 
increase.  The  average  annual  figures  for  drunken- 
ness (that  is,  number  of  convictions  per  1,000)  in 
recent  years  are — Stockholm,  33 ;  Bergen,  26 ;  Chris- 
tiania,  56.  Christiania  is  quite  as  drunken  as  Goth- 
enburg or  Glasgow,  and  even  Bergen  is  far  more 
drunken  than  the  worst  town  in  England. 


271 


CHAPTER  XII  : 

HABITUAL  INEBRIATES 

The  Legislature  has  wisely  proceeded  by  slow  steps 
in  trying  to  deal  with  this  painful  class.  They 
present  a  most  perplexing  problem — so  perplexing 
that  one's  mind  involuntarily  reverts  to  the  Old 
Eccles  system  of  hastening  the  end  by  providing 
opportunities  for  unlimited  indulgence ;  but,  however 
diverting  or  sensible  that  treatment  may  be  in  a 
play,  it  cannot  be  advocated  in  seriousness.  Neither 
the  individual  nor  the  State  can  shirk  the  duty  of 
doing  what  they  can  for  these  wrecks  of  humanity. 
What  can  they  do  ? 

It  is  now  generally  recognised  that  the  first 
essential  is  to  keep  them  entirely  from  drink,  and 
all  those  who  have  had  any  experience  of  inebriates 
know  that  this  cannot  be  done  under  the  ordinary 
conditions  of  life  even  when  the  patient  is  most 
willing  to  co-operate.  Hence  the  invention  of  homes, 
retreats,  and  reformatories,  which  are  intended  to 
make  abstinence  effective  for  a  given  period.  Homes 
or  retreats  are  for  voluntary  patients;  reformatories 
for  persons  committed  by  magistrates  on  conviction 
in  court.     The  former  were  established  on  a  legal 


272      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

footing  under  license  by  the  Act  of  1879 ;  the  latter 
by  the  Act  of  1898.  Or,  more  correctly,  legal 
machinery  for  establishing  them  was  provided  by 
those  Acts.  We  have,  therefore,  more  than  twenty 
years'  experience  of  licensed  retreats,  but  public 
reformatories  have  existed  for  a  very  short  time, 
and  only  on  a  small  scale,  as  local  authorities  have 
not  been  in  a  hurry  to  avail  themselves  of  the  power 
to  set  up  such  institutions  given  by  the  Act  of  1898. 
According  to  the  Government  inspector's  last  report 
there  were  at  the  end  of  1900  twenty  licensed  retreats 
with  357  beds,  and  five  reformatories  with  416  beds. 
Both  have  since  increased  and  will  no  doubt  continue 
to  increase,  for  the  desire  to  make  use  of  them  and 
the  consequent  demand  for  accommodation  seem 
to  be  growing  steadily. 

A  good  deal  of  disappointment  at  the  small 
results  of  the  Act  of  1898  has  been  expressed  by 
advocates  of  reformatory  treatment,  and  local  authori- 
ties have  been  blamed  for  not  utilising  their  powers 
on  a  larger  scale.  It  is  said  that  the  Act  has 
made  no  perceptible  difference.  That  is  true;  it 
has  not;  but  the  local  authorities  are  not  to  blame. 
I  read  in  the  Government  report  that  at  the  end 
of  July  1901  there  were  428  beds  available  for 
committed  cases,  of  which  285  were  occupied.  The 
accommodation,  though  not  very  large,  was  then 
in  excess  of  the  demand.  This  does  not  mean  that 
there  were  in  England  and  Wales  only  285  persons 
proper  subjects  for  reformatory  treatment,  because 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  local  authorities — county 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  278 

councils,  county  and  non-county  boroughs — were 
unprovided  with  accommodation;  but  it  does  mean 
that  the  number  of  persons  committed  in  those  places 
which  have  accommodation  is  much  smaller  than 
was  anticipated  by  many  people.  The  fact  is  urged 
as  an  argument  for  extending  the  existing  powers 
of  compulsory  detention  to  classes  of  drunkards  who 
at  present  escape ;  and  I  am  not  prepared  to  condemn 
the  proposal.  But  I  am  certain  that  whatever  may 
be  done  in  this  direction  the  result  will  prove  very 
disappointing  unless  the  question  is  more  clearly 
understood  than  it  appears  to  be  at  present.  It 
is  necessary  to  define  our  aims  and  examine  the 
prospect  of  realising  them  with  some  attempt  at 
precision. 

There  are  three  classes  of  persons  to  be  dealt 
with — (1)  voluntary  patients;  (2)  persons  compul- 
sorily  committed  on  account  of  offences,  to  wit 
criminal  or  repeated  public  drunkenness;  (3)  in- 
ebriates who  neither  submit  to  voluntary  restraint 
nor  come  within  the  grasp  of  the  existing  law.  The 
two  first  classes  are  covered  by  the  Acts  already 
mentioned;  roughly  speaking,  the  one  furnishes  the 
inmates  of  the  existing  retreats,  the  other  those  of 
the  reformatories.  I  say  *  roughly  speaking  '  because 
a  good  deal  of  domestic  compulsion  is  sometimes 
applied  to  the  first  class,  while  individuals  committed 
by  a  court  may  acquiesce  willingly  in  the  sentence. 
The  object  of  both  retreats  and  reformatories  is  the 
same,  namely,  the  cure  of  inebriety;  and  the  means 
are   the   same,   namely,    restraint   along   with   such 


274     DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

other  influences  as  may  be  brought  to  bear.  Other- 
wise the  two  are  on  a  totally  different  footing. 
Retreats  are  either  philanthropic  or  business  concerns, 
or  a  mixture.  That  is  to  say,  they  are  supported  by 
charity  or  (more  frequently)  by  the  payment  of  the 
patients.  They  are,  in  either  case,  wholly  voluntary. 
There  can,  therefore,  be  no  objection  to  their 
multiplication  and  no  hesitation  in  encouraging 
them.  Even  if  the  result  is  small  it  is  all  to  the 
good.  For  my  own  part  I  believe  that  more  could 
be  done  in  the  way  of  efficient  reclamation  by 
philanthropic  homes  for  poor  voluntary  patients, 
especially  young  women,  than  by  any  other  means. 
I  would  not  have  them  purely  charitable;  the 
patients  should  earn  their  keep  or  pay  something. 
But  this  is  by  the  way.  The  point  I  wished  to 
make  was  that  when  we  come  to  public  institutions 
the  case  is  entirely  different.  The  State  and  the 
local  authorities  are  trustees  for  the  public,  and 
cannot  afford  to  indulge  in  philanthropic  investments 
unless  there  is  a  reasonable  prospect  of  getting  a 
fair  return  for  the  money.  They  are,  therefore, 
quite  justified  in  going  slowly  to  work.  They  have 
no  right  to  embark  on  large  and  costly  experiments 
at  the  ratepayers*  expense  unless  there  are  very  good 
gi'ounds  for  believing  that  the  results  will  be  com- 
mensurate. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  there  are  such  grounds  in 
the  present  case.  The  experience  of  other  countries, 
which  is  often  cited,  is  of  very  little  value.  In  the 
first  place  they  are  other  countries,  and  in  the  second 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  275 

the  results  have  never  been  critically  examined.  The 
official  reports  of  institutions  for  the  cure  of  anything 
are  always  rose-coloured,  and  the  enormous  discount 
which  has  to  be  taken  off  in  the  case  of  other  foreign 
experiments  in  dealing  with  drink  is  a  warning 
against  too  ready  credence  in  this  matter.  Of  more 
value  to  us  is  the  experience  of  our  voluntary 
retreats. 

The  most  promising  fact  about  these  establish- 
ments— familiarly  known  to  the  initiated  as  *  dip- 
shops/  from  the  word  dipsomania — is  the  gradual 
increase  in  the  number  of  patients  making  use  of 
them.  It  indicates  an  increasing  number  of  persons 
willing  to  submit  to  restraint  for  their  own  good.  In 
twenty  years  they  have  risen  from  31  to  422  or 
more  per  annum.  But  even  the  higher  figure  is 
very  small.  It  represents  the  total  number 
received  during  the  year,  not  the  number  under 
treatment  at  once.  That  is  very  much  less — but 
little  more  than  half,  so  far  as  can  be  estimated  from 
the  returns.  The  total  accommodation  provided  in 
1900  for  males  and  females  under  the  Act  and  other- 
wise was  476;  but  several  of  the  homes  are  never, 
and  others  are  rarely,  full,  so  that  the  existing  provi- 
sion is  not  fully  utilised.  The  number  under  treat- 
ment at  the  end  of  the  year  was  only  237.  As  this 
cannot,  on  the  most  optimistic  estimate,  represent 
more  than  a  fraction  of  the  persons  needing  treatment 
and  able  to  pay  for  it,  the  inference  may  be  fairly 
drawn  that  the  majority  of  inebriates  are  not  as  yet 
anxious  to   avail  themselves  of  the  advantages   of 


276      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

retreat.^  That  may  be  and  is  used  as  an  argument 
for  their  compulsory  committal,  but  it  is  a  somewhat 
dangerous  one  to  use,  for  it  goes  to  show  that  they 
will  resist  compulsion  if  possible,  and  being  commit- 
ted against  their  own  wish  will  not  be  in  a  favourable 
condition  to  profit  by  the  discipline.  This  is  a  very 
important  consideration,  to  which  I  shall  return 
presently.  It  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that,  small 
as  is  the  number  of  persons  now  applying  for  treat- 
ment, the  majority  even  of  these  willing  patients  pre- 
fer to  enter  for  very  short — and  quite  useless — terms, 
and  that  upon  a  private  footing  which  gives  their 
keeper  no  legal  hold  over  them. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  explain  that  patients  may 
enter  a  home  either  on  a  private  footing  or  on  a 
legal  one — '  under  the  Acts,'  as  the  phrase  usually 
runs.  In  the  former  case  no  formalities  are  required 
and  inmates  are  still  their  own  masters.  In  the 
latter,  certain  documents  must  be  signed.  The 
applicant  must  sign  a  request  for  admission,  for  a 
stated  period,  before  two  justices  of  the  peace  or  a 
stipendiary  magistrate;  and  two  other  persons — 
friends  or  relatives — must  sign  a  statutory  declara- 
tion that  the  applicant  is  an  habitual  drunkard  within 
the  meaning  of  the  Act.  A  patient  so  entered  is 
liable  to  prosecution  and  penalties  for  breaking 
bounds,  obtaining  liquor,  or  otherwise  violating  the 
rules  of  the  establishment.  These  formalities, 
which  are  mainly  intended  to  safeguard  the  liberty 

'  The  annual  report  of  one  home  states  that  *  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  the  friends  are  unable  to  persuade  the  inebriate.' 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  277 

of  patients,  are  said  to  act  as  a  deterrent  on  account 
of  the  publicity  involved,  about  which  inebriates  are 
often  very  sensitive;  but  it  may  be  doubted  if  the 
real  motive  for  avoiding  them  is  not  rather  the  dis- 
like of  submitting  to  legal  restraint.  At  any  rate, 
about  half  do  not  submit  themselves  to  it,  and  of 
those  who  do  a  large  proportion  consent  only  to  short 
terms.  Out  of  the  whole  number  admitted  in  1900 
only  131  entered  for  twelve  months  and  upwards 
under  the  Acts,  against  203  who  entered  as  private 
patients  for  an  average  period  of  eighteen  weeks, 
which  is  a  mere  make-believe.  At  the  Rickmans- 
worth  home,  out  of  606  patients  discharged  since  it 
was  opened  282  entered  under  the  Acts,  and  324  as 
private  patients;  the  average  period  of  detention 
was  six  and  a  half  months;  119  entered  for  twelve 
months  or  more,  and  253  for  three  months  or  less. 

From  these  facts  I  draw  the  conclusion  that  out 
of  the  comparatively  small  number  of  inebriates  who 
are  sufficiently  desirous  of  reform  to  undergo  the 
discipline  of  a  retreat,  only  a  much  smaller  number 
enter  upon  the  experiment  with  a  sincere  determina- 
tion to  do  their  best.  In  point  of  fact,  a  good  many 
are  there  mainly  because  their  relations,  on  whom 
they  are  dependent,  cannot  put  up  with  them  any 
longer,  and  insist  upon  their  trying  the  experiment. 
They  have  a  sort  of  feeble  wish  to  rehabilitate  them- 
selves, but  it  is  as  nothing  against  the  habit  of 
gratifying  the  desire  of  the  moment,  fixed  by  a  life- 
time of  steady  self-indulgence.  What  do  they  do? 
In  the  first  place,  they  regard  their  period  of  enforced 


278      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

abstinence  with  intense  loathing,  as  a  martyrdom. 
That  is  their  standing  frame  of  mind.  Then  they 
not  infrequently  kick  over  the  traces.  I  do  not  wish 
to  suggest  any  charge  against  the  management  of 
existing  *  dip-shops.'  Some  are  better  and  some  are 
worse  conducted,  but  they  are  either  commercial 
speculations  or  more  or  less  struggling  charities, 
and  adequate  surveillance  is  very  expensive.  Besides, 
servants  can  be  bribed.  Drunkards  are  very  cun- 
ning, and  superintendents  cannot  know  all  that  goes 
on.  It  may  be  more  difficult  to  obtain  liquor  in  one 
place  than  another,  but  it  is  possible  in  all,  at  any 
rate  in  the  male  homes.  In  one  which  enjoys,  and 
I  believe  deservedly,  a  very  high  reputation,  and  is 
always  recommended  by  the  most  eminent  specialists 
in  alcoholism,  I  know  that  liquor  has  been  systemat- 
ically obtained  by  a  confederate  outside  slinging  a 
bottle  over  the  wall  in  a  basket ;  and  I  myself  possess 
a  bottle  of  whisky  which  was  procured  and  presented 
to  me  in  another  home  by  a  patient.  It  stands  in 
my  cupboard  alongside  a  companion  curiosity  in  the 
shape  of  a  bottle  of  potheen  presented  to  me  by  an 
Irish  priest  in  the  far  west  of  Ireland.  I  can  see 
him  now — ^the  best  fellow  in  the  world — running 
down  the  steps  of  his  house,  his  coat-tails  flying,  and 
the  bottle  in  his  hand  as  a  parting  gift.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  say  which  trophy  contains  the  more 
nauseous  liquid ;  but  while  the  clerical  one  stands  for 
pure  hospitality  and  patriotic  pride,  my  friend  in  the 
dip-shop  produced  his  in  order  to  prove  how  easily 
he  could  obtain  the  forbidden  fruit  and  how  cour- 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  279 

ageously  he  abstained  from  it  himself — which  I  am 
afraid  he  did  not.  No  such  proof  was  needed.  If 
a  man  makes  up  his  mind  to  get  liquor,  and  can 
command  either  money  or  credit,  there  is  no  place 
outside  a  gaol  or  an  asylum  in  which  he  cannot  gratify 
his  desire.  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  done  in  all  homes, 
or  done  regularly  in  any,  but  it  is  done,  and  some- 
times a  regular  outbreak  of  drunkenness  results. 

My  belief  is  that  it  would  occur  oftener  if  more 
patients  were  committed  for  a  long  period.  They 
can  get  through  a  short  spell  fairly  well  by  thinking 
over  past  delights,  and  promising  themselves  a 
delicious  recompense — ^just  one — for  their  present 
pangs  when  the  sentence  is  up.  If  they  had  a 
longer  time  to  serve,  more  would  break  out.  The 
tone  and  atmosphere  of  the  place  are  dead  against 
good  resolves.  It  is  nobody's  fault,  but  an  inherent 
defect  in  the  system,  and  an  extremely  serious  one. 
Here  are  a  lot  of  persons  addicted  to  a  particular 
vice — sometimes  with  concomitant  vices — and  they 
are  all  herded  together,  cut  off  from  the  rest  of 
mankind,  solely  on  account  of  that  vice.  What 
is  their  conversation  about?  Well,  what  is  the 
conversation  of  criminals  about  in  a  similar  situa- 
tion? Invariably  about  crime — the  crimes  they 
have  committed  and  the  crimes  they  are  going  to 
commit.  So  the  conversation  in  a  dip -shop  is  all 
about  drink,  the  drinks  of  the  past  and  the  drinks 
of  the  future.  That  is  to  say,  in  the  male  homes; 
of  the  female  ones  I  have  no  personal  knowledge 
though  from  what  I  know  of  women  generally,  and 


280      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

inebriates  in  particular,  I  should  expect  it  to  be  still 
more  true  of  them,  as  they  are  much  more  loquacious 
and  confidential.  But  of  the  male  homes  I  can 
speak,  having  known  several  patients  who  have  been 
in  several  homes,  and  having  mixed  in  their  society 
in  one.  The  conversation  is  of  drink  and  women 
and  other  dip-shops,  and  it  is  not  edifying.  What 
else  can  be  expected?  Some  at  least,  and  generally 
the  majority,  are  youngish  men  who  have  led  idle, 
self-indulgent  lives,  devoted  to  amusement.  They 
are  cut  off  from  their  usual  occupations  and  have 
no  other  interests  to  fall  back  upon.  They  lead  a 
pathetically  joyless  existence,  intensified  by  the 
consciousness  that  the  world  regards  them  as  a 
species  of  social  outcast,  and  they  inevitably  seek 
consolation  in  the  demoralising  contemplation  of 
those  who  are  worse  than  themselves.  The  sense 
of  degradation  is  made  supportable  by  the  spectacle 
of  an  equal  or  a  lower  degradation,  which  tends 
insensibly  downwards.  A  few  days  spent  in  this 
atmosphere  seem  like  a  nightmare:  months  of  it 
must  reduce  to  despair.  The  moral  influence  is 
exactly  the  opposite  to  that  which  inebriates  require. 
The  thing  they  need  is  the  gradual  restoration  of 
their  self-respect  by  the  companionship  of  people 
who  are  not  inebriates  and  whose  example  stimulates 
upwards.  This  is  the  fundamental  dilemma  of  the 
problem,  which  has  been  entirely  overlooked.  The 
physical  benefit  of  restraint  in  a  home  is  neutralised 
by  the  moral  evil  of  its  associations.  The  more 
reckless   and   degraded  spirits   set  the   tone,   which 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  281 

tends  to  weaken  the  best  resolutions.  To  use  the 
words  of  a  patient,  *  You  go  in  more  or  less  of  a 
gentleman  and  you  come  out  a  roaring,  seething 
cad/  A  man  may  be  ashamed  of  himself  when  he 
enters,  but  his  companions  soon  reassure  him.  There 
will  be  some  one  to  keep  him  in  countenance  in  his 
worst  moments.  He  finds  himself  the  member  of 
a  sort  of  fraternity — the  noble  Order  of  Dips.  Its 
lodges  are  the  various  dip -shops,  which  are  freely 
discussed  by  the  brethren,  just  as  doss-houses  and 
other  haunts  are  discussed  by  tramps.  Some  inmates 
spend  their  time  going  in  and  out  from  one  home 
to  another,  and  the  recruit  soon  learns  all  about 
them,  the  strictness  of  the  management,  the  comfort, 
the  food  supplied,  the  character  of  the  *  doctor,*  and 
so  forth.  At  the  same  time  he  hears  of  notable  dips 
and  their  exploits  in  the  way  of  drinking.  In  short, 
he  gets  to  know  the  ropes  and  lives  in  an  atmosphere 
of  dipsomania. 

What  is  the  result?  Let  me  again  quote  the 
words  of  a  patient :  '  If  he  be  weak,  then  any  resolu- 
tion he  may  have  formed  as  to  turning  himself  out  a 
permanent  cure  is  cast  to  the  four  winds.'  And 
most  inebriates  are  weak,  or  they  would  not  be 
inebriates.  The  upshot  is  that,  whatever  their  original 
intentions  may  have  been,  the  majority  become 
callous  to  their  condition,  and  only  look  forward  to 
the  hour  of  release.  As  the  same  authority  puts  it, 
*  Their  enforced  abstinence  from  stimulants  only 
whets  their  appetite,  and  when  they  have  finished 
the    period    for    which   they    entered   they   embark 


282      DRINK,  TE]MPEIIANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

on  a  terrific  burst,  which  ends  in  their  condition 
being  worse  than  when  they  entered  the  home.'  I 
am  afraid  there  is  only  too  much  truth  in  this 
account,  which  further  depicts  the  proceedings  of 
the  average  patient  on  leaving  at  the  completion 
of  his  term:  *  It  is  more  than  probable  that  he 
stops  on  his  way  home  at  the  nearest  pub  to  drink 
success  to  himself  and  perdition  to  all  retreats  and 
those  connected  with  them.'  They  do  not  all  cherish 
this  idiotic  frame  of  mind,  or  indulge  in  these  idiotic 
proceedings.  A  considerable  number  derive  tem- 
porary benefit  at  any  rate,  and  some,  it  is  hoped, 
are  permanently  cured,  but,  of  course,  no  one  can 
say  with  any  certainty,  because  relapses  may  occur 
at  any  time.  The  record  of  the  Dalrymple  Home, 
Rickmansworth,  is  247  patients  either  *  doing  well  ' 
or  *  improved  '  out  of  606.  The  terms  are  vague, 
and  no  information  is  given  with  regard  to  the  time 
elapsed  since  discharge.  How  many  have  remained 
sober  G.\e  years  after  treatment?  Are  there  5  per 
cent.  ?  If,  however,  even  a  small  percentage  of  cases 
derive  substantial  benefit,  that  is  no  doubt  a  sufficient 
justification  for  the  existence  and  encouragement 
of  retreats  which  are  self-supporting  or  maintained 
by  private  charity.  But,  as  I  have  said,  public  in- 
stitutions at  the  public  cost  stand  on  a  different  foot- 
ing. The  question  is  not  whether  a  few  chosen  brands 
can  be  plucked  from  the  burning,  but  whether  the 
aggregate  benefit  to  the  community  is  likely  to  justify 
the  outlay. 
Now  if  the  results  of  restraint  are  such  as  I  have 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  283 

described  in  the  majority  or  even  a  minority  of 
patients  belonging  to  class  (1),  who  are  so  far 
desirous  of  reformation  as  at  least  to  submit  them- 
selves voluntarily  to  the  discipline,  what  can  be 
expected  of  class  (2),  who  only  submit  under  com- 
pulsion? It  is  true  that  they  are  got  out  of  the  way 
for  a  time,  to  the  great  relief  of  their  friends;  but 
the  establishment  of  State  reformatories  on  a  large 
scale  could  hardly  be  justified  on  those  grounds. 
I  take  it  that  reclamation  is  the  object  in  view,  and 
I  ask,  What  chance  is  there  of  any  commensurate 
result?  It  will  be  argued  that  the  disappointing 
results  in  voluntary  homes  are  largely  due  to  the 
short  terms  of  detention,  and  that  if  the  minimum 
period  were  twelve  months  there  would  be  more 
successes.  There  might  be,  but  there  would  also  be 
another  result — namely,  fewer  patients.  I  entirely 
agree  that  the  longer  the  period  of  enforced  absti- 
nence the  more  complete  the  physical  regeneration. 
That  is  a  conclusion,  based  upon  experience,  in  which 
I  believe  every  one  agrees.  I^atients  who  enter  for 
twelve  months  turn  out  far  better  than  those  who 
enter  for  only  three  or  six ;  but  to  argue  that  compul- 
sory restraint  for  twelve  months  would  necessarily 
bring  the  three  and  six  months'  cases  up  to  the  same 
standard  of  success  is  to  ignore  one  half  of  the  whole 
question.  Twelve  months'  cases  do  better,  not 
merely  because  they  are  under  restraint  for  twelve 
months,  but  also  because  they  are  better  disposed  to 
profit  by  it.  The  fact  that  they  have  voluntarily 
submitted  to  the  longer  period  proves  that  they  are 


284      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

more  truly  alive  to  their  condition  and  more  firmly- 
resolved  to  make  a  serious  effort.  The  compulsory 
twelve-monthers  would  be  in  no  such  frame  of  mind. 
On  the  contrary,  they  would  be  more  exasperated  and 
more  refractory  than  if  their  sentence  were  shorter. 

This  point  brings  me  to  an  important  misconcep- 
tion which  tends  to  obscure  the  whole  question  at 
present.  We  have  so  developed  the  physical  side  of 
the  problem  that  we  are  apt  to  forget  the  moral  one, 
and  even  that  there  is  a  moral  one.  I  quite  agree 
tliat  inebriety  or  dipsomania  is  a  disease  with  a 
certain  physical  basis,  though  what  that  is  nobody 
knows.  We  only  know  by  experience  that  whatever 
may  be  the  nature  of  the  disease  it  must  be  treated 
by  total  abstinence.  Otherwise  there  can  be  no  cure. 
In  establishing  that  principle  medical  science  has 
done  great  service.  But  to  lose  sight  of  the  other 
side,  to  regard  inebriety  as  merely  a  physical  disease 
and  to  suppose  that  physical  treatment  alone  will  do 
lasting  good,  is  to  make  a  great  mistake,  and  a  very 
common  one.  ^  Perhaps  nobody  would  admit  taking 
that  view  in  so  many  words,  but  it  underlies  the 
reasoning  of  those  who  expect  much  from  compul- 
sory abstinence.  The  theory  is  that  inebriates  are 
the  victims  of  a  physical  malady  which  takes  the 
form  of  an  '  irresistible  craving,'  and  renders  them 
powerless  to  withstand  temptation;  and  that  when 
the  poison  is  eliminated  the  craving  will  be  gone 
with  it.  There  is  some  truth  in  it,  but  only  half  the 
truth.  The  primary  malady  is  not  physical  but 
moral,  if  we  admit  a  moral  element  at  all,  and  it 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  285 

remains  after  the  other  has  been  removed.  It  is 
aggravated  by  the  physical  condition  and  lessened  by 
the  latter 's  improvement,  I  allow,  but  as  it  existed 
before,  so  it  continues  after.  This  is  what  is  so 
often  overlooked.  *  Irresistible  craving  *  is  one  of 
those  phrases  with  which  people  intoxicate  them- 
selves. It  covers  a  multitude  of  fallacies,  for  those 
who  use  it  do  not  see  that  either  there  is  no  such 
thing  or  else  it  involves  the  denial  of  all  moral 
responsibility.  Every  desire  which  any  individual 
fails  to  resist  is  to  that  individual  an  irresistible 
craving,  and  in  no  other  sense  is  the  drunkard's 
craving  irresistible.  He  does  not  resist  it  because 
he  does  not  want  to  with  sufficient  energy.  He 
would  like  to  be  free  from  the  disadvantages  of 
being  a  drunkard,  but  he  does  not  want  to  stop 
drinking.  If  he  did  he  would  stop.  When  he  has 
a  sufficiently  strong  motive  he  does  stop.  Let  me 
give  you  two  or  three  examples,  some  of  them 
classical  ones.  Dr.  Johnson  found  at  one  time  in 
his  life  that  if  he  began  to  drink  he  invariably  went 
on  until  he  got  drunk,  and  being  a  man  of  great 
self-respect  he  promptly  ceased  drinking  at  all.  He 
had  the  *  irresistible  craving '  of  the  physical 
malady;  only  he  resisted  it  because  he  possessed  the 
moral  strength  to  do  so.  De  Quincey  emancipated 
himself  from  the  opium  inebriety,  which  is  far  more 
difficult  to  cure  than  the  alcoholic,  not  by  his  moral 
strength,  but  simply  and  solely  because  the  results 
of  taking  opium  became  more  painful  than  absten- 
tion, painful  as  that  was.    His  case  is  an  admirable 


286      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

lesson  in  the  real  principles  involved.  The  *  irresist- 
ible craving  '  became  resistible  in  the  presence  of  a 
stronger  motive.  I  can  parallel  these  classical 
examples  from  my  own  knowledge.  A  confirmed 
dipsomaniac  who  had  tried  pretty  nearly  everything 
was  at  last  given  up  by  all  his  friends  and  relations ; 
when  lo!  his  pride  came  to  his  assistance.  He  said 
to  himself,  *  Everybody  has  given  me  up.  Well, 
hang  it!  I  won't  give  myself  up.'  And  without 
any  further  assistance  he  turned  over  a  new  leaf  and 
abstained  for  a  long  time.  In  the  second  case,  an 
Irish  priest  in  the  first  stage  of  delirium  tremens, 
and  absolutely  mad  for  drink,  became  quite  manage- 
able on  learning  that  the  bishop  had  been  sent  for. 
His  *  irresistible  craving  ' — and  it  was  the  extremest 
form — ^was  resisted  at  once  with  the  assistance  of  fear. 
I  could  give  more  examples  from  an  intimate  experi- 
ence of  inebriates,  but  perhaps  these  will  suffice  to 
illustrate  the  point. 

I  maintain,  therefore,  that  a  physical  craving 
which  is  absolutely  irresistible  does  not  exist. 
Irresistibility  has  always  a  moral  element,  and  any 
theory  which  does  not  take  that  into  account  only 
leads  to  error.  This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  case  with 
the  reformatory  theory,  as  ordinarily  held.  I  agree 
with  it  so  far  as  this — that  the  inebriate's  power  of 
self-control  is  impaired  and  can  only  be  restored  by 
abstinence;  but  the  theory  goes  further  and  assumes 
that  abstinence  also  gives  the  desire  to  use  the 
repaired  self-control.  That  is  the  mistake.  Self- 
control  and  desire  to  reform  are  different  things. 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  287 

Abstinence  helps  the  one,  but  not  the  other.  The 
utmost  that  treatment  in  a  home  can  do — and  I  am 
sure  every  doctor  who  has  conducted  one  will  agree 
here — is  to  give  a  patient  a  fresh  start,  and,  if  any 
lasting  benefit  is  to  result,  the  treatment  must  be 
preceded  and  accompanied  by  a  strong  and  earnest 
desire  to  amend.  Otherwise  the  patient  merely  be- 
gins again  with  the  same  moral  defect  that  originally 
led  to  the  downfall,  intensified,  it  may  be,  by 
demoralising  companionship.  In  that  case  the  issue 
is  a  foregone  conclusion.  Physical  treatment  does 
not  mean  a  moral  cure,  and  in  every  case  the  disease 
is  primarily  moral.  Drunkards  make  all  sorts  of 
excuses,  which  impose  upon  soft-hearted  people  and 
theorists,  but  no  one  becomes  a  helpless  inebriate 
without  a  prolonged  course  of  conscious  self-indul- 
gence. The  habit  may  be  broken  off,  but  if  the  self- 
indulgence  which  led  to  it  remains,  then  the  same 
thing  infallibly  happens  again.  The  craving  still 
remains  irresistible.  In  truth,  it  is  fallacious  to 
speak  of  *  curing  '  inebriety.  The  inebriate  must 
cure  himself,  and  all  that  can  be  done  for  him  is  to 
assist  his  endeavour  by  placing  self-indulgence 
out  of  his  reach. 

What  chance,  then,  is  there  of  curing  those  who 
are  so  little  anxious  to  reform  that  they  will  not 
voluntarily  submit  to  restraint?  And  what  differ- 
ence will  it  make  whether  they  are  incarcerated  for 
six  months  or  six  years?  Just  about  the  same 
difference  that  it  makes  to  other  hardened  offenders. 
The  fear  of  getting  into  trouble  again  may  make 


288      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

them  somewhat  more  wary,  but  they  set  about 
gratifying  their  instincts  from  the  first  moment  of 
release.  We  must  expect  drunkards  to  do  the 
same. 

My  object  in  saying  so  much  is  not  to  depre- 
cate effort  in  this  direction,  but  to  prevent  illusion 
and  the  discouragement  and  reaction  which  come 
from  disappointed  hopes.  We  have  got  to  do  the 
best  we  can  for  these  specimens  of  the  unfit,  and  the 
less  self-deception  we  indulge  in  the  more  likely  we 
are  to  succeed.  We  must  be  content  with  small 
results  and  not  fall  into  the  mistake  of  supposing 
that  large  and  imposing  operations  will  succeed  in  a 
matter  of  this  kind  when  lesser  ones  fail.  There  is 
a  general  tendency  to  think  so  at  the  present  time. 
It  is  seen  that  the  retreats  and  reformatories 
established  for  my  two  first  classes  of  drunkards 
make,  and  are  likely  to  make,  little  or  no  perceptible 
difference  in  the  mass  of  drunkenness,  and  a  cry 
arises  for  means  to  deal  with  the  third  class,  which 
neither  submits  to  voluntary  imprisonment  nor 
comes  within  reach  of  the  law  by  the  commission  of 
drunken  crime  or  by  repeated  convictions  for  drunk- 
enness in  the  police-court.  This  is  a  far  more 
difficult  step  and  one  promising  even  less  results  than 
the  existing  systems  which  have  proved  so  disap- 
pointing. To  frame  an  Act  of  Parliament  dealing 
with  the  class  to  some  extent  is  not  beyond  the  wit 
of  man,  but  to  make  it  work  effectively  is  another 
matter. 

It  may  be  taken  as  certain  that  public  opinion 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  289 

will  not  tolerate  any  procedure  with  regard  to  alleged 
inebriates  which  safeguards  their  liberty  less  carefully 
than  that  of  lunatics.  No  other  attitude  is  ad- 
missible, for,  however  obnoxious  inebriates  may 
be,  they  are  less  dangerous  to  themselves  and  other 
people  than  lunatics,  and  therefore  society  has  a 
less  incontestable  right  to  place  them  under  summary 
constraint.  Now,  it  is  not  always  easy  to  bring 
a  lunatic  under  the  law,  as  may  be  seen  from  the 
constant  occurrence  of  tragedies  committed  by 
maniacs  at  large,  and  from  the  conduct  of  those 
ladies  who  haunt  the  Law  Courts  to  the  terror  of 
His  Majesty's  judges.  Certificates  have  to  be  signed 
by  several  independent  persons  stating  specific  proofs 
of  insanity  within  the  personal  knowledge  of  each 
witness.  These  are  sometimes  very  hard  to  obtain, 
but  it  would  obviously  be  extremely  difficult,  and 
often  quite  impossible,  to  obtain  such  independent 
evidence  proving  inebriety.  It  is  notoriously  difficult 
to  prove  a  single  act  of  simple  drunkenness.  In 
the  ordinary  five-shilling  police-court  case  there  is 
often  a  conflict  of  evidence,  and  in  more  serious  ones, 
even  when  public  misconduct  affords  solid  ground 
for  the  charge,  it  is  successfully  resisted.  Illness, 
fits,  sunstroke,  what  not,  are  pleaded,  and  expert 
witnesses  brought  to  support  the  plea.  How  incom- 
parably more  difficult  to  prove  inebriety!  You  can- 
not call  in  an  independent  medical  man  to  certify 
inebriety  on  a  single  occasion  as  you  can  with  lunacy. 
Long  acquaintance  with  the  patient's  habits  would 
be  necessary,  such  as  only  the  friends  and  relatives 


290     DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

possess;  and  their  testimony,  which,  is  not  allowed 
to  suffice  for  lunacy,  could  not  be  allowed  to  suffice 
in  the  other  case.  Then  the  inebriate  must  have 
the  right  of  appeal  to  a  jury  no  less  than  the  lunatic, 
and  the  only  result  would  be  that  every  one  would 
shrink  from  certifying  inebriety.  Remember  that 
when  a  drunkard  is  sober  he  can  answer  for  himself 
as  well  as  any  one  else  in  court,  and  that,  coupled 
with  the  medical  difficulty  of  proving  drunkenness, 
would  make  the  conviction  of  such  a  client,  well 
defended,  almost  impossible.  If  a  jury  could  pro- 
nounce Mrs.  SEine,  then  there  is  hardly  an 

inebriate  in  existence  whom  they  would  convict. 
In  short,  the  condition  of  inebriety  is  far  too  ill 
defined,  too  hazy,  and  too  little  susceptible  of 
demonstration  to  stand  the  searching  test  of  a  court 
of  law.  And  if  it  is  objected  that  such  tests  are 
quite  unnecessary,  I  would  reply  that,  in  view  of 
the  abuses  to  which  laxity  would  open  the  door, 
it  is  more  necessary  to  protect  an  alleged  inebriate 
with  aU  possible  care  than  an  alleged  lunatic,  for 
this  reason:  a  lunatic's  sentence  (if  I  may  use  the 
term)  is  indefinite.  A  certificate  only  runs  for  a  fort- 
night, and  at  any  time  subsequently  he  may — and 
does — regain  his  freedom  on  regaining  his  senses, 
which  is  a  matter  of  observation  and  susceptible 
of  proof.  But  the  inebriate  is  to  be  sentenced  to 
a  fixed  term,  which  all  experts  are  agreed  should 
not  be  less  than  one  or  two  years,  or  even  more, 
if  it  is  to  do  any  real  good.  The  prisoner  has  to 
serve  his  time  out.     He  cannot  prove  that  he  has 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  291 

recovered,  because  he  is  sane  and  sober  from  the 
outset.  And  it  would  surely  be  a  dangerous  thing 
if  the  law  were  so  framed  as  to  permit  the  incar- 
ceration of  anybody,  even  for  six  months,  without 
due  care.  A  few  drugs  adroitly  administered,  and 
an  obnoxious  person  goes  to  the  *  reformatory  '  for 
a  lengthy  period  without  the  chance  of  release.  He 
or  she  is  an  *  inebriate,'  and  cannot  prove  the  con- 
trary as  a  pretended  lunatic  can.  The  doctor,  in 
perfect  good  faith,  smiles  at  the  denial,  for  all 
inebriates  firmly  believe  themselves  cured  in  every 
interval  of  sobriety.  In  short,  proof  of  inebriety 
cannot  be  lightly  accepted  by  the  law  because 
subsequent  disproof  is  quite  impossible.  We  should 
have  all  the  old  lunacy  scandals  over  again. 

In  practice  the  difficulty  might  be  found  less 
formidable  than  I  have  represented,  but  it  is 
sufficiently  serious  to  show  that  effective  legislation 
is  not  the  simple  matter  it  appears  to  the  ardent 
reformer.  What  would  probably  happen  is  that 
the  law  would  get  hold  of  those  advanced  inebriates 
who  are  incapable  of  managing  their  affairs  and 
whose  condition  can  be  easily  proved — persons,  that 
is  to  say,  who  are  the  least  hopeful  subjects  for 
treatment.  It  would  hardly  be  possible  to  get  hold 
of  the  beginners,  of  whom  some  good  might  be 
hoped  just  because  they  are  beginners.  But  what 
I  want  more  particularly  to  point  out  is  that  no 
such  legislation — ^nor  any  reformatory  scheme — will 
touch  the  male  drunkards  who  cause  the  great  mass 
of    misery    and    suffering    in    this    country.      The 


292      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

contrary  hope  is  based  on  a  prevalent  error  suggested 
by  the  term  *  habitual  drunkard, '  which  confuses 
the  inebriate,  or  diseased  and  more  or  less  insane 
drunkard,  with  the  man  who  gets  habitually  drunk. 
It  is  the  latter  whom  you  expect  and  want  to  get 
hold  of,  and  in  the  upper  classes,  with  which  medical 
specialists  in  inebriety  are  chiefly  conversant,  he 
is  identical  with  the  inebriate,  because  no  one  else 
gets  habitually  drunk.  In  the  lower  classes  it  is 
not  so.  The  English  working  man — I  do  not  speak 
of  social  wrecks — who  gets  drunk  every  Saturday, 
who  squanders  the  bulk  of  his  wages  in  the  public- 
house,  neglects  and  ill-uses  his  wife  and  children  or 
drives  them  to  the  workhouse,  is  very  rarely  an 
inebriate  in  the  medical  sense — not  once  in  a  hundred 
cases.  He  exhibits  neither  the  physical  degeneration 
nor  the  enfeebled  will  of  the  inebriate.  He  acts 
deliberately  and  has  no  lack  of  self-control.  He  is 
not  a  fit  subject  for  the  reformatory  even  if  it  were 
possible  to  get  him  there.  He  does  not  come  within 
the  definition  of  *  inebriate  '  in  the  Act  of  Parliament, 
because  he  is  quite  capable  of  managing  his  own 
affairs  and  is  very  often  an  exceptionally  skilful 
workman;  nor  is  he  caught  by  the  provision  re- 
specting repeated  convictions,  because  he  generally 
takes  care  to  stop  short  of  incapacity  to  get  home. 
The  town  clerk  of  Bristol,  in  giving  evidence  before 
the  Peel  Commission,  made  a  statement  which 
excited  some  surprise  and  incredulity.  He  said  they 
had  only  six  or  seven  men  in  Bristol  who  were 
habitual    drunkards.     He    was    quite    right  in    the 


HABITUAL  INEBRIATES  293 

sense  indicated,  but  they  have  scores  who  habitually 
get  drunk. 

This  does  not  apply  to  women  of  the  same  class 
for  reasons  which  I  have  mentioned  more  than  once. 
In  1900  the  number  of  cases  committed  to  reforma- 
tories under  the  Act  of  1898  was  16  males  to 
128  females.  As  more  use  is  made  of  the  Act  I  should 
expect  this  disparity  to  be  more  strongly  marked, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will  eventually  make 
a  considerable  impression  on  the  mass  of  female 
drunkenness.  An  extension  of  the  law  to  class  (3) 
would  also  be  more  likely  to  take  effect  among  women 
than  among  men.  Unfortunately  a  large  proportion 
of  female  inebriates  are  the  least  hopeful  subjects  of 
reformatory  treatment,  and  that  fact  must  be  faced. 
It  has  already  caused  some  discouragement.  The 
Government  inspector  attributes  it  to  the  picking 
out  at  first  of  the  worst  cases  by  magistrates  for 
experimental  treatment.  *  There  is  evidence,'  he 
says,  '  of  discouragement  on  the  part  of  managers 
of  reformatories  who  are  called  upon,  in  the  early 
stages  of  their  work,  to  deal  with  a  worse  class  than 
they  anticipated,  and  are  proportionately  disap- 
pointed in  not  obtaining  evidence  of  the  large  per- 
centage of  good  results  they  might  under  other 
circumstances  have  reasonably  hoped  for.'  And  he 
suggests  that  later  on  a  more  promising  class  will  come 
into  their  hands.  I  hope  that  will  be  the  case.  There 
is  a  promising  class  of  women.  Indeed,  women  who 
are  reformable  at  all  are  much  more  easily  reformed 
than  men.    Their  condition  is  more  often  due  to  some 


294      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

quite  temporary  trouble,  physical  or  mental,  and 
they  can  more  readily  displace  the  alcoholic,  excite- 
ment by  some  emotional  influence.  But  I  am  afraid 
that  these  will  always  form  a  minority. 

The  conclusion  I  draw  is  that  the  reformatory 
system  will  fail  to  touch  the  bulk  of  the  male  drunk- 
ards and  will  not  reform  the  bulk  of  the  female.  This 
will  seem  very  pessimistic  to  some,  but  it  is  not.  It 
only  means  that  this  agent  is  limited  in  its  action 
like  the  rest.  But  it  is  none  the  less  worth  using, 
like  the  rest;  and  the  more  clearly  its  limitations 
are  realised  the  more  purposeful  will  its  application 
be,  and  the  less  subject  to  disturbance  by  that  dis- 
couragement of  which  the  inspector  has  so  soon 
found  evidence. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  something  about  drugs. 
They  have  a  proper  use  in  the  treatment  of  inebriates, 
as  of  any  other  patients,  but  on  general  lines.  As 
for  specific  *  cures, '  I  am  open  to  conviction,  but  want 
good  evidence.  All  that  I  have  seen  is  quite  worth- 
less, and  bears  the  stamp  of  quackery  on  its  face. 
It  could  only  impose  on  the  ignorant. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  literature  of  drink  and  temperance  is  very  voluminous, 
but  most  of  it  is  vehemently  controversial,  one-sided,  and 
uninforming.  The  following  is  a  list  of  publications  selected 
because  they  either  contain  solid  information  or  possess 
some  other   interest. 

Historical 
Nineteen  Centuries  of  Drink  in  England.    R.  V.  FRENCH. 
History  of  Drink.    J.  Samuelson. 
History  and  Science  of  Drunkenness.     W.  ACKROTD. 
Temperance  History.    Dawson  Burns.  .- 

Legal 

Intoxicating  Liquor  Licensing  Latos.    J.  Paterson.  "^ 

The  Licensing  Laws.    G.  C.  Whiteley.    *^ 

The  Licensing  Laws,  so  far   as   they  relate  to   the  Sale  of 

Intoxicating  Liquor.     R.  M.  Montgomery,  vr 
The  Need  and  Practicability  of  Licensing  Reform.    F.  E.  Slee.  ^ — 

(A  critical  examination  of  the  recommendations  of  the  Peel  Commis- 
sion. Aleo  contain?  a  enmmary  of  the  existing  law,  very  conven- 
iently arranged.) 

Scientific 

Alcoholism:  A  Study  in  Heredity.    G.  Archdall  Reid,  M.B.  ^^ 

(An  application  of  the  Darwinian  theory  to  alcoholism.  Dr.  Reid 
argnes  with  much  force  that  alcoholism  tends  to  die  oat  in  a  race 
throngh  the  elimination  of  the  more  alcoholic;  but  he  pushes  the 
theory  too  far  and  ignores  other  factors.) 

UAlcool  et  VAlcooUsme.    H.  Triboulet  et  F.  Mathieu.  w- 

Drunkenness.    G.  R.  Wilson,  M.D.    ^ 

General 

The  Liquor  Problem  in  its  Legislative  Aspects.    Committee  of 
New  York. 

(A  critical  and  dispassionate  study  of  the  most  important  legislative 
experiments  in  the. United  States.) 


296      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 

The  Temperance  Problem  and  Social  Reform.     J.  RowntbeB 
and  A.  Shebwell. 

(A  detailed  examination  of  the  American  and  Scandinavian  experi- 
ments. Is  a  strong  plea  for  the  Norwegian  method  of  disinterested 
management,  and  should  be  read  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  T.  P. 
Whittaker's  Memorandum  (see  below)  on  the  opposite  side.  The 
authors  fall  into  all  the  fallacies  with  regard  to  consumption  pointed 
out  above  (pp.  70,  117),  and  base  their  argument  on  the  mistaken 
belief  that  Norway  is  the  most  sober  country  in  Europe.) 

Liquor  Legislation  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.     E.  L. 
^  Fanshawe. 

(An  examination  of  these  experiments  by  an  English  barrister.) 
The  Gothenburg  System  of  Liquor  Traffic.     E.  R.  L.  Gould. 

(Prepared  for  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Labour.    Is  a  full 
/  and  accurate  statement  of  facts  in  regard  to  the  legislation  of  Nor- 

way and  Sweden.) 

Official 
Special  Reports: 

Select   Committee    (House  of   Commons)    on   Intoxica- 
tion, 1834. 

Select    Committee     (House    of    Commons)     on    Public- 
houses,  1854. 

Select   Committee    (House   of   Commons)    on   Habitual 
Drunkards,   1872. 

Select  Committee    (House  of  Lords)    on  Intemperance, 
1876. 

Select  Committee   (House  of  Commons)   on  British  and 
Foreign  Spirits,  1890. 

Royal  Commission  on  Sunday  Closing,  1890. 

Royal  Commission  on  Liquor  Licensing  Laws,  1896. 

(Mr.  T.  P.  Whittaker's  Memorandum,  attached  to  the  Final  Report, 
-v^^  /  states  the  case  for  Local  Veto  against  the  Scandinavian  system ; 

V  should  be  read  with  Messrs.  Rowutree  and  Sherwell's  book.    They 

answer  each  other.) 

Return  of  Consumption  of  Alcoholic  Beverages,  Ac,  in 
the  United  Kingdom  1861-1893,  1894. 

Annuxil  Returns: 

Judicial  Statistics. 

Statistical  Tables   (consumption). 

Registrar-General's  Report. 

Alcoholic  Beverages  in  Europe  and  U.S.A. 

Report  of  Commissioner  of  Metropolitan  Police. 

Report  of  Inspector  of  Reformatories. 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  64 

Abstainers,  number  of,  92,  99 

Abstinence,  total,  12,  34,  93, 

101,  113 
Acts   of   Parliament,   list  of, 

103-109 
Adulteration,  23,  33,  46,  207, 

234 
Alcohol,    use    of,     13,     137; 

action  of,   115,  116 
Alcoholism,  death-rates  from, 

78,  131 
America,  91,  95,  172 
Ancient  Britons,  15 
Ancient  Romans,  15,  127 
Anselm,   17 

Arsenical  poisoning,  82 
Australia,    124 
Austria,    123 

Bacon  on  drunkenness,  20 

Bands  of  Hope,  99 

Beer,  in  1130,  18;  effects  of, 
31,  213;  consumption  of, 
24,  29,  71;  definition  of, 
109;  adulteration  of,  46, 
207,  234;  change  in  qual- 
ity, 74,  210;  kinds  of,  206 

Beer-house  Act   of   1830,   34, 
103,    139, 
168 
of   1869,106 

Beer-houses,  reduction  of,  48, 
68,  108;  increase  of,  61,  68 

Belfast,  34,  56,  91,  192 

Bergen,  270 

Berwickshire,  54 

Betting,  10,  11;  in  public- 
houses,  104,  107,  222 


Birmingham,  48,  50 
Bishop  Blomfield,  92,  95 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  111 
Bona-fide   traveller,    147,    148 
Bradford,  34,  51,  92 
Branvin,  139,  247 
Brewers,   r' ,    131,    201,    227, 

235 
Bridge,  Sir  John,  49,  77,  86 
Bristol,  48,  51,  94,  166,  292 
British  and  Foreign  Temper- 
ance Society,  43 
Burns,   Dr.    Dawson,   91,   96, 

111,  113 
Burton  on  drinking  in  1621, 

21 
Bus-drivers,   132 
Butchers,  131,  132 

Cabmen,  131 

Camden   on    drunkenness,    19 

Cardiff,  48,  108,  198,  241,  261 

Celts,    125,    198 

Charles  I.,  21 

Chester,  51,  120 

Chief  Constables,   145,   186 

Child-messengers,  109,  152 

Chinese,  125 

Church  of  England  Temper- 
ance Society,  90,  98,  101 

Clergy,  in  sixth  century,  16; 
in  seventeenth  century,  22; 
sobriety  of,   133 

Climate,  influence  of,  69,  117 

Clouston,  Dr.,  on  drunkards, 
157 

Clubs,  143,  180 

Clydebank,  65 

Coal-heavers,  131 


298      DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


Commission,    Royal     (Peel), 

1896-99,   3,    7,   49,   61,    77, 

89,  141,  146,  161,  186,  192, 

292 

Committee,    Select,    of    1834, 

35-41 

of  1850,  207 

of  1854,  45, 

89,  207 
of  1876,  47, 
89,  107 
Committee  of  New  York,  172 
Consumption,  statistics  of,  in 
seventeenth  century,  24;  in 
eighteenth      century,      29 ; 
from     1867    to     1875,    47, 
150;    from    1831    to    1890, 
71;  from  1891  to  1899,  73; 
fallacies    of,    70,    117;    in 
Gothenburg,    253;    of    beer 
in  Sweden,  257 
Conviviality,  136 
Cooks,  intemperance  of,  132 
Cork,  56,  94 
Costermongers,  131 
Crime  and  drink,  10 

Daly,  Me.,   195 
Danes,  17 

*Danesbury  House,'  97 
Darwinian  theory  and  drink, 

126,  296 
Defoe  on  the  working  man, 

24 
Delirium  tremens,  80 
De  Quincey,  285 
Dipsomania,  31,  86,  213,  284 
Doctors,  132 
Doctor  Johnson,  285 
Drink,   evils   of,   9,   41;    and 

crime,     10;     and     poverty, 

134,  212 
Drinking  healths,   15,    136 
Drinking  to  pegs,  17 
Drunkards     classified,     213; 

treatment  of,  164,  156,  178, 

214 


Drunkenness  of  ancient  Brit- 
ons, 15;  Saxons,  16;  Danes 
and  Normans,  17;  in  six- 
teenth century,  19;  in 
seventeenth  century,  21-24; 
in  eighteenth  century,  24- 
33;  in  1824,  33;  in  1834, 
35-41;  decline  of,  44; 
among  upper  classes,  32, 
112,  213;  among  women, 
see  Female  drimkenness ; 
among  children,  see  Ju- 
venile drunkenness;  statis- 
tics of,  57;  in  London,  49, 
60;  in  Liverpoool,  50,  62, 
188;  in  Glasgow,  63,  256; 
in  England  and  Wales,  49, 
64,  119;  in  Ireland,  55,  65, 
125,  256;  in  Scotland,  53, 
119,  125,  256;  in  France, 
118;  in  English  counties, 
120;  in  Wales,  125;  in 
Newcastle,  256;  in  Gothen- 
burg, 255,  261;  in  Him- 
gary,  123;  in  wine-grow- 
ing countries,  117;  in 
Portugal,  118;  in  Stock- 
holm, Christiania,  and  Ber- 
gen, 270 ;  geographical  dis- 
tribution of,  119;  influence 
of  climate  on,  121;  of  race, 
123;  of  heredity,  42,  126; 
of  occupation,  129;  of 
home  conditions,  134;  of 
festivals,  15,  136;  of  num- 
ber of  public-houses,  66, 
138,  141;  of  wages,  149;  of 
publicans,  216,  231,  268; 
of  police  supervision,  186; 
at  railway  bars,  189;  de- 
liberate among  working 
men,  24,  214 

Dublin,  56,  192 

Dumbarton,  55 

Dundee,  54,  87 

Dunstan,  17 


INDEX 


299 


Eablt  olosino,  in  1285,  18; 
effect  of,  145;  recommend- 
ed, 196;  under  Gothen- 
burg system,  268 

Edgar,  Rev.   Dr.,   91 

Edinburgh,  54 

Edward  VI.,  18 

Engine-drivers,  133 

FAdLlTiES,  excessive,  138; 
deficient,  143;  not  propor- 
tionate to  drunkenness,  141 

Farre,  Dr.,  40 

Father  Mathew,  61,  93 

Female  drunkenness  in  seven- 
teenth century,  23 ;  in  eight- 
eenth, 25;  in  nineteenth, 
35,  38,  89;  alleged  increase, 
63,  75:  in  upper  classes, 
75;  in  lower,  77;  statistics 
of,  83;  causes  of,  76,  86, 
132,  220;  treatment  of, 
293;  in  other  countries, 
220,  258 

Fielding,  30 

Finisterre,  142 

France,  118,  129,  142 

French,  Dr.  Valpy,  15,  19,  22, 
25 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  30, 
33 

Gin,  20,  29,  31 

Gin  Act,  26,  167 

Glamorgan,  120,  126,  141 

Glasgow,  34,  54,  63,  256 

Gloucestershire,  52 

Good  Templars,  69 

Gothenburg,  139;  town  de- 
scribed, 240;  liquor  traffic 
in,  242;  the  Bolag,  244, 
251;  consumption  of  brRn- 
vin,  253;  drunkenness  in, 
254,  259;  compared  with 
Cardiff,  261 ;  the  police,  262 

Gothenburg  system,  147,  171, 
183,    224,    238;    described. 


243;  its  effects,  252;  on 
consumption,  253;  on 
drunkenness,  256;  on  wel- 
fare of  the  people,  268; 
application  to  England, 
265 ;  cardinal  point  of,  267 ; 
its  most  effective  action, 
268 

Greece,  126 

Greenock,  34,  64 

Grocers*  licenses,  77,  106, 168, 
180 

Habitual  inebriates,  12,  86, 
156,  179,  213;  duty  of  the 
State,  271,  274,  282;  Acts 
of  Parliament,  272,  276;  re- 
treats and  reformatories, 
272;  classification  of  cases, 
275;  their  state  of  mind, 
276;  inherent  defect  of  re- 
treats, 280;  effects  of  re- 
straint, 282;  moral  side  of 
inebriety,  284;  difficulty  of 
dealing  compulsorily  with 
non-criminal  cases,  288 ; 
working-men  drunkards, 
292;  women,  293 

Hairdressers,  131 

Heredity,  42,  126 

Hindoos,  128 

Hogarth,  25 

Holland,  19,  20,  220 

Horsley,  Rev.  J.  W.,  on  bet- 
ting, 11 

Hours  of  closing,  38,  61,  103, 
107,  145,  165,  197 

Hull,  51 

Hungary,  123,  136 

Iago,  20 

Idleness  and  drink,  133 

Illicit  trade,  26,  72,  108,  143, 

165,  173 
Inebriety,    75;    see   Habitual 

inebriates 


300 


DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


Inn-keepers  and  inn-servants, 

131 
Innocent  II.,  18 
Intemperance,    see    Drunken- 


Ireland,   55,  65,   68,  91,    125, 

192,  266 
Italy,  117,  126 

James  I.,  20 

Japanese,  125 

Jews,  128 

Juvenile  drunkenness,  38,  55, 
152,  221;  under  Gothen- 
burg system,  258 

Kerb,  Dr.  Norman,  53,  78,  85 
Kethe,  Rev.  William   (1570), 

20 
Kilkenny,  56 
King  Edgar,  17 
Knight,  Charles,  33 

Lancashire,  38,  52,  142 

Lecky,  Mr.,  15,  24,  31 

Leeds,  34,  50 

Licenses  introdiiced,  18;  sug- 
gested classification,  196 

Licensing  Act,  of  1828,  34;  of 
1872  and  1874,  65,  106,  163 

Licensing  Bench,  190 

Limerick,  94 

Lincoln,  62 

Lisbon,  118 

Liverpoool,  48,  50,  62,  78,  87, 
139,  166 

Local  option,  170,  174,  181 

London  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, 18;  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  23;  in  the  eight- 
eenth century,  25,  28,  32; 
in  1824,  33;  in  1834,  35; 
in  1896,  49;  statistics  of 
drunkenness,  59,  120,  130; 
public-houses  in  East-end, 
202 

Londonderry,  56,  192 


Magistrates,  185,  189 
Mahommedans,  128 
Maine  liquor  law,  95 
Maitland,  William,  History  of 

London,  27 
Manchester,  38,  48,  50,  89 
Manning,  Cardinal,  97 
Massachusetts,  95 
Metropolitan    Police    Act 

(1839),  61,  103,  164 
Middlesex  magistrates,  25,  26. 

34 
Miners,  129 
Model  public-houses,  223,  224, 

238,  268 

Mordaunt,  Rev.  Osbert,  225 
Musicians,  131 

Netherlands,  see  Holland 
Newcastle,  48,  51,  256 
Normans,  17 

Northumberland,    120,    141 
Norway,    26,    118,    139,    170, 

239,  270 
Nottingham,  51 

Occupation  and  drink,  129 

Oporto,    118 

Opportunities,  see  Facilities 

Peei.  Commission,  see  Com- 
mission,  Royal 

Penzance,  52 

Pepys,  22 

Periin,   Stephen,    19 

Permitting  drunkenness,  107, 
218,  268 

Plymouth,  51 

Police,  procedure,  58;  power 
of  entry,  104,  107;  judges 
of  number  of  licenses,  145; 
and  clubs,  181;  defects  of, 
185;  Liverpool  system,  186; 
in  country,  233;  in  Gothen- 
burg, 262 

Police  statistics,  their  value, 
57;  for  London,  59;  Liver- 


INDEX 


301 


pool,  62,87,  140,  188;  Glas- 
gow, 63;  England  and 
Wales,  64,  150;  Ireland,  65; 
of  female  drunkenness,  83; 
by  counties,  120;  by  char- 
acter of  districts,  129;  in 
Gothenburg,  255,  261;  other 
Scandinavian  towns,  270 

Portugal,  117,  118 

Poverty  and  drink,  9,  134 

Price  of  liquor,  influence  on 
consumption,    151 

Prohibition,  96,  167,  173 

Prostitutes,  38,  86 

Publicans,  number  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  1831-91, 
67;  statutory  powers  and 
penalties,  107;  mortality 
from  alcoholism,  131;  pro- 
vide what  is  demanded, 
148;  attitude  to  children, 
153,  221;  treatment  by 
magistrates,  189;  'punish 
the  wrong-doer,*  195;  diffi- 
culties of,  200,  219;  atti- 
tude to  customers,  202;  to 
drunkenness,  216;  permit 
betting,  222;  in  the  coun- 
try, 231;  laxity  in  Sweden, 
264 

Public-houses,  complaints  of, 
in  thirteenth,  fourteenth, 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies, 18;  in  seventeenth 
century,  22;  in  eighteenth 
century,  28,  32;  in  1830, 
34;  number  of  customers  in 
1834,  35;  improvement  of, 
45,  48,  50;  numbers  and  re- 
duction of,  48,  67;  in  Scot- 
land, 68;  in  Ireland,  68; 
excess  of,  138;  number  of, 
and  drunkenness,  140;  de- 
ficiency of,  143;  disorderly 
houses,  181 ;  supervision  of, 
186;  record  should  be  kept, 
190;    'superfluous*   houses, 


194;  tied  houses,  195;  the 
customers  to  blame,  200; 
the  exterior  of,  203 ;  the  in- 
terior of,  204;  liquor  sold 
in,  206;  non-intoxicants, 
218;  women  and  children 
in,  219;  betting  in,  222; 
country  houses,  230;  model 
houses,  238 

Puritans,  22 

'  Pushing  the  sale,*  216,  268 

Queen  Victobia,  43,  114 

Race,  influence  of,  123,  173 

Rechabites,  96 

Recreation,  135 

Religious      ceremonies      and 

drinking,  15,  136 
Renfrewshire,  64 
Restoration,  The,  23 
Restriction,   necessity   of,    18, 

138;   limits  of,  140 
Retreats    and    reformatories, 

see  Habitual  inebriates 
Romans,  15 
Russia,  117 

Sailors,  129 

Salisbury,  Lord,  6 

Saxons,  16,   17 

Scandinavia,  see  Norway, 
Sweden,  Gothenburg 

Scotch  whisky,  77 

Scotland,  39,  53,  68,  104,  117, 
119,  121,  125,  256 

Seaports,  129 

Serving  drunken  persons,  218, 
230,  253,  268 

Shakespeare,  20 

Sheffield,  48 

Smith,  Mr.  Horace,  on  bet- 
ting, 11 

Somersetshire,   52 

Spain,  117 

Spirits,  20,  24,  29,  31,  87,  121, 
259;     consumption    of,    in 


302 


DRINK,  TEMPERANCE,  AND  LEGISLATION 


United  Kingdom,  71,  73;  in 
Gothenburg,   253 

Staffordshire,  62 

Stubbes,  Philip  (1583),  20 

Sunday,  in  1570,  20;  in  1834, 
36;  in  1854,  45 

Sunday  closing,  in  Scotland, 
104,  105;  in  Ireland,  108; 
in  Wales,  108;  doubtful  ef- 
fects of,  125,  145,  165;  ap- 
plication to  England,  197 

Sweden,  26,  118,  122,  136,  139, 
170,  239;  consumption  of 
beer,  257;  see  also  Gothen- 
burg 

Teetotalism,  34,  93,  97,  101 
Temperance  movement,  34 ; 
origin  of,  91;  in  England, 
92;  zenith  of,  93;  decline 
of,  95;  revival  of,  96;  pres- 
ent position,  98;  influence 
of,  100;  see  also  Father 
Mathew 


Tied  houses,  168,  195,  207,  235 
Trade,  influence  on  intemper- 
ance, 47,  61,  73,  149 

Ulster   Temperance   Society, 

91 
United  Kingdom  Alliance,  96 
Usquebaugh,  20 

Wales,   108,   125,  198 
Watch  Committees,  186,  191 
Waterford,  56 
West  Bromwich,  53 
Whyte,  Mr.,  53 
Wieselgren,  Dr.,  139,  257 
Willerding,   Mr.,    139,    169 
Wilson,  Dr.,  on  drunkards,  156 
Wine,  consumption  of,  71,  73, 
151;  change  from  heavy  to 
light,    74;    how    drunk    in 
wine-growing  countries,  117 

York,  51,  78 


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